


(never) how it should have been

by zizizrites



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Jurassic World AU, Jurassic World Spoilers, M/M, Mention of Panic Attacks, Minor Character Death, jurassic world canon-typical violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-08 23:52:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 26,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5517761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zizizrites/pseuds/zizizrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Zayn has a park to oversee, Liam is the raptors’ whisperer, Harry and Louis are the bickering computer techs and Niall accidentally creates a Holyshitosaurus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. hold me still

**Author's Note:**

> A world of thanks to [Ambra ](http://maestolenpencil.tumblr.com), who listened to me when I was freaking out about this (it happened _a lot_ ) and never forgives my typos. She also drew gorgeous art for this story (featured below). I told you you were gonna get a fic for Christmas, so I hope you like this, even if it's not the right one.
> 
> —
> 
> So... I wrote this thing at the end of June after Liam and Chris interacted on twitter and then proceeded to leave it rot for months in my fic folder. Then, the other week, I realized that if I didn’t post this before the end of the year, I probably never would so I spent a few days crying, and trying to edit this shit, and crying some more. 
> 
> I can’t beta my own writing to save my life so this is most likely a disaster. Sorry about any mistakes, typos and shit. I tried my best but English isn’t my mother language, so yeah, sorry again. 
> 
> This fic obviously contains spoilers for Jurassic World and presents similarity with the events of the movie. I did change things from JW canon as much as I kept things exactly like in the movie but, mostly, I made a lot of shit up. 
> 
> If you’re not familiar with the Jurassic Park/World franchise, you probably spent the last two decades under a rock, hope you were comfy. What you really need to know about it to understand this fic and its universe is that science magic brought dinos back to life and rich people built a theme park around them on an island called Isla Nublar. The rich guy in Jurassic Park was John Hammond, the one in Jurassic World was Simon Masrani (I didn’t bother changing it in this story because who owns the park doesn't really affect the plot. Also I’m lazy). 
> 
> If sometime is unclear, you can always message me or hit Google.
> 
> The title is inspired the lyrics of ‘The Sailor’ by Lost Lander and both chapters are titled after lyrics from ‘Ghosts that we knew’ by Mumford and Sons. 
> 
> One last thing! This is mostly a monster fic kinda thing. Yes, there’s romance around but a lot of what follows revolves around a crazy dino, fair warning!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

 

Zayn has never known a life where dinosaurs didn't exist.

He became aware of the fact that it wasn't supposed to be that way around the age of seven, but even after that he wasn't fully able to grasp the concept of extinction for a long time, of how it was possible to bring something that ancient back to life in a lab.

He has a grainy memory of his father holding his tiny hand while he and a Doniya that couldn't be older than six sat on the back of a baby Triceratops, grinning and giggling like lunatics. He thinks he remembers seeing a photo stopping that moment forever, tucked away in one of his mother's photo album at the old house, two kids on a field trip with their dad.

Zayn knows that he was definitely too young to be aware of it then, but sometimes he thinks that that was the moment he knew he would never leave the park.

Right now, though, with alarms blasting all around him and a very high chance he won't get out of this alive, he thinks he might not have a choice. And it breaks his heart, seeing the park in ruins, all because of greedy men looking for a way to make more money.

Zayn never cared much about it. He always cared about the park more, always tried to put the wellbeing of the creatures first, alongside the safety of the people visiting Jurassic World, but, for the first time in his life, Zayn finds himself thinking that maybe - _maybe -_ they should have let dinosaurs sleep in stone instead of playing gods.

 

— —

 

The only thing worrying Zayn's mind when he walks in the park's control room on a random Tuesday morning is the fact that he overslept. And the enjoyment and wellbeing of the eighteen thousand guests currently visiting Jurassic World, but he's always worried about that, so he reckons it doesn't count.

He's not _late_ \- he never is when it comes to work related businesses - but he was in a hurry and didn't have the time to be picky about his coffee like he usually is.

He spends a couple of seconds just glaring at one of the Starbucks cups he's holding before taking a sip and scrunching his nose. Too sweet for his liking, _ugh_.

So he mentally curses his alarm clock - which decided to break this morning - before greeting everyone already at work.

The room is already buzzing with activity even if it's just past 9am. Schematics and dinosaurs' vitals keep passing on various screens and all the technicians are busy with their respective tasks.

Zayn quickly scans the room - everything looks fine, that's good - but before he can relax a bit the automatic doors behind him slide open and a gorgeous dark skinned brunette walks in, head tilted downwards to look at the tablet in her hands.

Zayn smiles at her even if she can't see it, her eyes busy looking at the tablet, probably sorting out emails so he won't have to.

"Good morning," Zayn says to his assistant and her lips quirk up at the corners, her fingers still swiping at the touch screen in her hands.

Caroline hums something in acknowledgment before Zayn takes another look at the map of the park, projected on one of the many screens lining the walls of the room, making sure again that nothing is beeping an alarming red or a worrying orange before making a beeline for Louis' desk.

Louis Tomlinson is unofficially Zayn's second in command when it comes to managing the park. While Zayn is the one who makes the final call and takes all the major decisions, Louis is the one who makes sure everything runs as smoothly as Zayn expects.

The lad is hunched over his desk, a cuppa cooling over some important looking papers, when Zayn puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Tommo," he says before leaning a bit towards Louis' station, looking at the screen in front of them. "Anything to report?" he asks.

"Same old, same old," Louis replies, grinning at Zayn. He quickly types something on his keyboard, bringing statistics on the screen.

"A lady fainted during a drive in the Gallimimus Valley but that was probably just the heat. A guard took her to the infirmary anyway and it was confirmed that she's fine."

Zayn nods at him, pats his shoulder one more time as a thank you and crosses the three feet separating Louis' and Harry's desks.

Harry Styles supervises all of the rides. If a Gyrosphere seems to stray from its path, Harry is the one who gets it back in line. He also keeps tabs of the tracking devices installed subcutaneously in the creatures that populate the park.

Zayn has never managed to confirm it, but he's pretty sure Harry bypassed some major security protocols to track employees' cellphone GPS as well, which he's not authorized to do. He may or may not be his best friend, though, so, as long as he doesn't cause any trouble with his sneaky hacking, Zayn is willing to let it slide.

When he reaches him, Zayn drops the second disposable cup he's carrying - the one with green tea in it because his friend is a weirdo and doesn't drink coffee - beside Harry's elbow. He looks at the computer screen to check the GPS signals of some rides, confirming they're all on the right courses, before ruffling the technician's wild hair.

Harry almost knocks his tea over trying to get Zayn's fingers out of his curls, but he miraculously manages to catch the cup and then, as if nothing happened, he takes a sip and thanks Zayn for the tea. They smile at each other in greeting and then Zayn continues his round, making sure everything is alright, before turning around and heading for his office.

"You do remember you have a visit at the raptor paddock scheduled for 11:00, don't you?" Caroline says, the clicking of her heels following after him.

Zayn sighs, his good mood dampened by the reminder.

Of course he remembers. He couldn't forget he has a meeting with Liam Payne even if he wanted to.

"How could I ever forget?" he answers, scowling. "I'm the one who scheduled it."

And that's true, yes, but it wasn't really Zayn's choice. His boss, Mr. Masrani, was supposed to be there but his inability to attend the meeting himself had prompted the need for Zayn to take over instead and he isn't exactly buzzing with excitement about that.

Carline takes in his expression and giggles.

"Still haven't sorted it out I assume," she teases hurrying out of the room before Zayn can say anything.

Zayn would very much like to do the same but the new piece of information caught Harry's attention and before Zayn can take a step, he's swirling in his chair.

"Does Liam still insist the raptors are too dangerous for the public?" Harry asks, craning his neck to look at him.

"That he does" Zayn answers, voice monotone and bored. "Let's hope he has changed his mind".

Louis snorts at that and if Zayn didn't need to look professional and in charge, he probably would smack him on the back of his head, but he's aware Louis is right. They all know that Liam changing his mind about the raptors is very unlikely.

"Yeah, good luck with that, mate!" Louis calls after him while Harry shouts a "Say 'hi' for me" when he's almost out the door, even though he knows Zayn won't do that.

He's not sure but he's positive he hears Harry mumble something like "I don't get why they don't cut to the chase and shag each other senseless again. This raptor excuse is getting old".

The doors close behind Zayn's back and the last thing he hears is Louis' laughter. He decides to just ignore them and concentrate on how much he pretends to despise the raptors' trainer instead.

The thing is, Liam and he have history. A very brief one, to be honest, but still.

They have history - or what Zayn overheard Harry refer to as "The Great Ziam Sexcapede".

Zayn doesn't agree with that description and would appreciate if Harry could just drop the subject in the rare occasions Liam is mentioned.

It wasn't even that great, Zayn would argue if he talked about it - which he doesn't because he ends up lying to himself every time. It was a quick shag on Zayn's office desk, an accident provoked by misplaced sexual tension and a fair amount of alcohol, nothing more. He even had to get the bloody table replaced after, because he couldn't work on it anymore without getting distracted.

Zayn doesn't think about it often and a couple of hours before a meeting with the man himself definitely isn't the right time to dwell on that night at all.

He runs nervous fingers through his quiff and drops his finished coffee cup in the first rubbish bin he finds on his way to his office. If he does so with a little frustration, nobody's there to witness it. He powers up his computer as soon as he sits down and spends half an hour going over the emails Caroline decided he had to read and another half sending reports to investors and interested parties.

He is on a video call with Masrani, who's flying in the following week, when his phone pings with the remainder of his meeting with Liam so, after wrapping up the conversation with his boss, he hangs up and makes his way outside.

One of the park's Jeeps is already waiting for him when he exits the building so he turns the engine on, getting himself ready for a conversation that will probably end badly.

—

Liam Payne is a giant pain in the ass, no pun intended, and Zayn curses himself everyday for not realizing it the second the former soldier set foot on the island, just a duffle bag slung over his shoulder and an excited grin stretching his lips. 

Zayn remembers their first interaction, Liam's goofish smile when he introduced himself as the "raptor lad". Zayn had answered with his actual name and the position he was occupying at the time, professional and polite even when faced with a grin that could rival the one of a five-year-old.

"You're my boss?" the new raptor trainer had asked and at Zayn, "Pretty close," Liam had answered bolting to attention, still smiling like a maniac, a "Yes, sir" on his lips.

Zayn used to find Liam endearing, not quite able to comprehend how someone who used to serve in the Royal Navy, someone who had seen a real battlefield first hand and had been personally chosen by the park owner to take responsibility for the Raptor Training Project could act like the dorkiest person he had ever met. He used to like hanging out around the paddock, watching him work, finding excuses to drop by, but then the accident happened and everything changed, Zayn most of all.

Now he likes to pretend he's not affected by Liam anymore, likes to pretend he shagged him out off his system that one time, but he's not even fooling himself most of the time. It's exhausting, the coldness and annoyance he displays around Liam, but he convinced himself it's a necessary precaution.

Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, Zayn parks his Jeep and makes his way toward the paddock where the raptors are held, bracing himself.

They have been having the same conversation for months now and Zayn really isn't in the mood to deal with this today.

It's not that Liam isn't good at his job. That's not it at all.

Zayn has no problem admitting that he's without a doubt the best choice for the position. He has never met anyone as knowledgeable about Velociraptors as Liam Payne is and in all the years he spent on the island, Zayn has never met someone who could understand the species' behavior like Liam does.

The only problem with him being in charge of the RTP is that he keeps insisting his animals are too dangerous to become an attraction the public can safely enjoy.

Zayn thinks he's just stubborn and purposely being an annoying arsehole.

This is not Jurassic Park. They inaugurated a petting zoo where kids can play around with baby Triceratops years ago. Zayn doesn't think he's being unreasonable when he asks for a very heavy reinforced, electrified fence that will allow guests to watch the raptors from a safe distance.

He has lived on Isla Nublar his whole life and has been working for Masrani since he was old enough to be hired by the corporation, interning during the summer when he was still in school. He understands dinosaurs well enough, he knows they can be dangerous, but it's his duty as Operations Director to make sure the guests of the park are able to enjoy the full Jurassic experience and, after they managed to create a safe environment to showcase a T-Rex, the raptors only seem the next logical step.

Not in Liam Payne's mind, apparently.

—

A tall lanky lad with sandy hair is sitting on the first step of one of the staircases surrounding the enclosure, a cigarette dangling from his lips, when Zayn parks his car.

"Samuels," Zayn greets him and Andy gets up, spitting the butt of his smoke on the ground.

"Here to speak to Payno?" he asks and when Zayn nods, he detaches a small radio from his belt.

Zayn isn't close enough to catch anything other than statics coming from the speaker but after a few murmured words Andy looks at him.

"He's in the middle of training," he says. "You can wait here or go up and watch, your call."

Zayn peeks at his watch. He doesn't have time to spare just waiting around.

"I'll go up," he decides.

"Suit yourself," Andy shrugs. "You remember your way around?"

Zayn glares at him and, without a word, starts going up the stairs that lead to the overlook bridges.

It's embarrassing how he could say he used to be a regular spectator to Liam's training sessions, but he's positive he'll never get used to the screeching and snarling coming from the caged space underneath his feet.

Liam is in the middle of the central bridge when Zayn reaches the top step, the raptors right below him tilting their heads at the trainer calling them by name, one at a time. He's making clicking sounds with the little clicker he's holding to keep them focused too, a bucket full of dead rats at his feet.

Zayn is taken aback when he finally lays eyes on him. He hasn't seen Liam in weeks, maybe even months - he's not keeping tracks - and he looks damn good. He just stops to stare a second and then proceeds to curse himself for both his thoughts and the staring. Indifference and annoyance, he repeats to himself.

They haven't properly spoken to each other since the T-Rex Kingdom inauguration two years ago and even that time it was mostly Liam flirting and Zayn pretending those little smirks didn't effect him in the slightest. Every time they have interacted since has been strictly for business reasons, even though, in Zayn's opinion, one of the two hasn't really managed to act professional around the other.

He has mixed feelings about where things stand between them and everything gets messed up every time he sees the trainer because, even if Zayn has been pretending he doesn't give a shit about him for years, he can't deny that Liam Payne is objectively hot.

Fuck, scratch that. He's hella fit, tall and with just the right amount of muscles defining the lines of his body and Zayn would know that, since he's seen the man gloriously buck naked.

Zayn shakes his head, trying to clear it from the inappropriate line of thoughts, and starts thinking about a T-Rex chomping on a goat, but he can't help the little shivers that run down his spine at the memories of how those broad shoulders had felt under his fingertips.

Zayn likes to think he forgot that night but the memories emerge from a not quite so hidden part of his mind.

But it's not just Liam's appearance that gets to Zayn. What really throws Zayn for a loop every time is the way Liam looks while he's training his raptors.

The focused glint in his eyes, the concentration written all over his features while he snaps at them to gain their attention one at the time, the unmistakable set of his shoulders.

He has seen Liam outside the paddock numerous times, but the way he carries himself when he's on the bridges is so different that Zayn feels mesmerized just looking at him.

He's snapped out of his daze when Liam speaks again.

"Charlie, stop that," he shouts at one of the raptors. "Not cool, girl," Liam scolds.

He hasn't noticed the other man yet, too focused on the raptors, but that changes the moment Zayn steps fully on the bridge and four dinosaurs turn to look up at him, hissing between their teeth. That's when Liam turns too and what seems to be a fond smile appears on his lips, but it's nothing more than a flicker, and then his attention is on the raptors again.

"Look at me," Liam says, clicking more vigorously with his little device. "Eyes on me, girls."

There's a moment of tension when the raptors don't obey immediately, but then Liam calls the one with blue stripes on her body and when she complies, the other three follow a beat after. Liam throws a dead mouse at each of them, before wrapping up the training session and making his way towards Zayn.

"Hey," he smirks when he's close. "Fancy seeing you here, but I'm afraid your pretty suit's gonna get dusty real quick if we stay up here when they start running around."

Zayn takes that as his cue to head back to ground level. Liam is right behind him.

It's unnerving how Liam hasn't change at all during the last couple of years. Even after Zayn started ignoring him and shooting down all his attempts to initiate something, he's still friendly and nice, a smirk always on his face and an awful joke ready to make Zayn hide a smile.

Zayn hates it. It makes him feel as guilty as he probably deserves to feel.

"You know," Liam says when they step on the gravel. "Not that I don't appreciate the visit, but if you're here for the girls save your breath and go back to HQ."

So they're not wasting any time, Zayn thinks before turning around to face Liam.

"I’ve just seen them complying with your commands," he starts to say but he's interrupted before he can get to his point.

"And you saw how they would have eaten you alive the second they noticed you," Liam replies and how he manages to glare and smirk at the same time is beyond Zayn. "You saw how easily they get distracted, you can't put them on display. It's not _safe_."

Zayn lets out an irritated breath. He knows that already and he's sure that if a man that isn't currently head of security of Jurassic World just because he was mental enough to turn down the job says that something it's not safe, that something isn't. But he also knows that if Masrani is pushing the RTP so hard lately it's because they need something new to showcase and they need that something quickly. Zayn dreads the thought of what R&D could come up with if he doesn't find a solution first.

Long story short, he's under a lot of pressure and Liam's stubbornness doesn't help with his nerves.

"I'm not in the mood to have a fight with you," he mumbles, positive enough that Liam didn’t hear him. "You were consulted after the incident at the T-Rex enclosure," he says loud enough to be heard this time. "Your input on the security measures review was fundamental. I don't understand why we can't just do the same thing we did then with the raptors."

It's Liam's turn to sigh in frustration. "Rexy is different," he sounds like someone who's explaining things to a child and Zayn would be really annoyed right now, if he wasn't trying not to laugh at the nickname. "A T-Rex can't see you unless you are moving. She can smell you, sure, but as long as we keep the guests behind the non-reflecting, soundproof glass in the log viewing area, she can't even tell if someone is watching her. She just goes on with her day in her little forest, hunting her goats when they're released in her enclosure. And she is alone."

Liam runs a hand through his hair before speaking again. "The raptors are different. There are four of them, to begin with, and don't you even try to suggest we separate them, we tried that once during a training session and it didn't end well. Don't forget they're smarter than a T-Rex, they can communicate with each other and they work as a team. How long do you think it will take them to figure out a way to get out of a cage?"

Zayn knows that, he does. He always liked research and by the time he was thirteen he had already read every available report on the original park - had the most interesting ones memorized before he turned fifteen - and the raptors had always been very fascinating. So he doesn't need Liam to tell him what he already knows. He needs him to find a solution to the problem.

"They are in a cage right now," Zayn tries to argue. "What's stopping them from escaping?"

"They were born in this cage, this is home for them," Liam explains. "Why would they want to leave the only place they've ever known to be safe? We take them out of here and put them in a fishbowl for tourists and they will rebel. And it ain't gonna be pretty, I can assure you."

What frustrates Zayn the most is that Liam is probably right. Most certainly right, considering he's been with the four raptors since their births and nobody knows them as well as he does. But Zayn doesn't have the luxury of just dropping the subject because there are a couple of complications. So he wracks his brain for something, a way to convince Liam.

"You managed to trap that Dimorphodon when it escaped the aviary," he says. "We didn't even have to alert ACU. You could contain a raptor if you were prepared for the eventuality, I'm sure."

"The Dimorphodon incident was pure luck and you know that," Liam states, but Zayn stops him right there. "Masrani spoke to Higgins the last time he was here and he said a raptor exhibit can be arranged, so why won't you give the green light?"

Their voices are gradually increasing in volume, not yet shouting but very close to it. Liam has also started pacing back and forth, just like a caged animal looking for a way to escape and the irony isn't lost on Zayn.

"Higgins has never set foot in here," Liam suddenly stops and pins Zayn with the intensity of his stare. "Don't get me wrong, he's amazing at what he does, but he's overseeing the T-Rex and he knows shit about my raptors, so I don't care about what he has to say."

"Alright, you're the expert here," Zayn tells him.

"You said that, not me," Liam says matter-of-factly. He's getting worked up about this conversation, Zayn can tell. He's not the only one. "And after all these years working with them, I still haven't come up with a safe enough way to showcase them. What does this tell you about how smart and unpredictable they are?" he almost barks in Zayn's face.

Zayn is surprised about that. They've been having the same argument for months now, but this is the first time Liam came this close to lose his temper. The trainer realizes almost instantly how harsh that sounded, but when he tries to reach out for Zayn and apologize, the other man takes a step back.

"Well, figure something out, and fast," his words nearly turning into a threat. "Or R&D will and nothing good usually comes out of that," he adds walking toward his Jeep. He's pretty sure he hears Liam swearing under his breath.

He unlocks the door before looking back at Liam, still standing where he left him and looking frustrated and worried.

"I'll be back," Zayn promises him while getting in the car. He sees Liam crack a smile in the rearview mirror when he fastens his seatbelt.

"What are you now?" Liam calls after him. "Terminator?"

Zayn chuckles a bit at the silly reference, but he puts his professional mask back in place as soon as he remembers he should be looking serious and threatening and starts driving away from the paddock.

Liam Payne is gonna give him an ulcer or something, goddammit.

—

A couple of days later he enters the control room right after his lunch break and finds Harry and Louis arguing.

They're the only two technicians in the room - the others presumably on their lunch break - but Harry and Louis are both control freaks and they usually end up eating at their stations on particularly busy days. Case in point, there are a couple of take-away boxes resting in the rubbish bin next to Harry's desk and some scattered among important looking documents on Louis'.

Zayn looks at the two of them and sighs. There's always been tension between them, something that could easily be solved with a friendly banter, but lately things have been getting out of control. They've been fighting over the smallest things and then proceeding to sulk for hours, snapping at each other until they go back to their normal selves, as if nothing happened.

Zayn decided about a week after this strange bickering started that he would stay as out of it as he could, as long as their discussions didn't concern the park. So when Harry yells, "If only you managed to make your desk look like an actual working station and not like a bloody dorm room, maybe you would have found your shit by now," Zayn goes ahead and quickly checks the main monitor and a couple of screens to make sure everything's running smoothly, before exiting the room.

The last thing he sees is Harry throwing one of the little plastic dinosaurs he keeps on his desk at Louis' head. He's quite positive it was the Stegosaurus one.

—

The following Saturday night he and Harry go out for a couple of drinks after work.

Louis usually joins them, but considering all the arguing and fighting that have been going on lately, it's probably not the best idea tonight and Niall has been ditching them a lot since he started working on a new project even Zayn doesn't know anything about. It must be something big, too, because Niall tends to get very excited about his job at the labs and if he's shutting them out, there is a very high chance it's because he's afraid he would blurt out top secret stuff that's supposed to stay undisclosed.

Zayn is kinda irritated about the Niall thing, but he doesn't mind the Louis thing too much. He likes hanging out with Harry and also enjoys the prospect of a night out with one of his best mates, without constant bickering as a background.

Harry is being a bit of a downer, though, and it's pretty noticeable that he's upset about the fact that Louis isn't there. He's been eyeing the door regularly, like he's hoping the other lad would just walk in.

"So..." Harry says suddenly, plopping back down next to Zayn after his little trip to the bar. "We really haven't had the time to talk about your meeting with Liam," he is sipping his second drink, another strange concoction of aloe vera extract and some other stuff that Zayn doesn't really care enough to remember. He's also grinning like the nosy friend he is and Zayn is not in the mood for this.

"What about it," he deadpans, getting defensive.

"Do you still get all hot and bothered when you see him in his tight pants and leather vest?" Harry asks, his annoying smirk still in full display.

Zayn would love to see that grin on his friend's face if it wasn't at his expense so he glares at him harder, trying to convey his feelings towards the topic with just his eyes and hoping Harry would drop it once and for all. Knowing him, it is not very likely. Why his friends are so invested in his sex life he will never understand.

"Why don't we talk about what is going on with you and Louis instead?" Zayn retaliates, switching the focus of the conversation.

Harry nearly chokes on this drink at that and Zayn almost feels bad. Almost.

"What—“ he coughs. "What do you mean?"

"C'mon, Haz. You two have been acting like cat and dog for the past few weeks. It's way worse than your usual bitching around."

Harry stays quite, an array of emotions dancing on his face until his features settle on something that Zayn might dare call embarrassment.

"We kinda kissed," the technician blurts out looking at the ground.

Zayn does not splutter his beer in Harry's face but it's a close call.

"What?" he half-yells.

"Remember last month employees' dinner?" Harry asks him, a pink blush on his cheeks and Zayn nods.

"Well, I was kinda drunk. Louis was too and we ended up making out at some point."

"About time, if you ask me."

Harry's eyes go impossibly huge at Zayn's comment.

"What? It's not like everyone but you noticed how he looks at you. And you outright told me you've been fancying him forever. I really don't understand how this made things worse."

"We never talked about it," Harry grumbles. "He's been acting like nothing happened and I don't know how to react."

Apparently denying your feelings is something that runs in the park's water system. Zayn would know.

"You two are idiots. You know that, right?" he tells Harry anyway taking another sip of his beer. "Just get your acts together before accidentally blowing up the park when you have sex in the control room because the sexual tension became too much to handle, yeah?"

Harry looks at him outraged for a second before plastering a knowing smile on his face.

"Can't really replace dinos as early as desks, can you?" he says before getting up to go to the loo and leaving an appalled Zayn behind.

—

The next morning, when Zayn enters the control room for his routine rounds, Harry and Louis are glaring daggers at each other and grunting answers at Zayn when he asks them for their reports on the park's status.

He drops Harry's tea at his desk and makes a quick escape to his office.

His friends are idiots. He would get new ones but he doesn't have the time to audition candidates so he's stuck with them for the time being. Zayn's life is so hard.

—

He's minding his own business in his office on Monday, checking Masrani's flight schedule, when the park's owner walks in.

"Sir," Zayn stands up the second the man enters the room. "I wasn't expecting you till the late afternoon."

Masrani offers him his hand to shake and Zayn takes it.

"Flown in myself," he explains cheerfully. "Just got my license to fly a chopper!"

Sometimes Zayn wonders how this man is still alive.

"That's great, sir," Zayn lies.

"Do you have an update on the Velociraptor situation for me?" his boss asks next and Zayn grits his teeth.

"I'm working on it," he answers, an uncomfortable feeling settling in his stomach.

He's very grateful when Caroline chooses that moment to walk in, saving him from further conversation.

"Mr Malik, there's been a change in your schedule," she says, her voice teasing like every other time she addresses him at work. She looks up from her tablet, already smiling, but her back straightens a bit when she notices who else is in the room.

"Oh, Mr Masrani. What a lovely surprise," she greets and Zayn swears he can see her blush.

"Oh, don't mind me," Masrani says.

"As I was saying," Caroline resumes talking. "A meeting with Dr Horan has been added to your calendar, Mr Malik."

"I asked my assistant to do that," Masrani interjects. "I have something to show you, Zayn."

"At what time?" he asks.

"Two o'clock," Caroline replies.

Zayn nods before she walks out, leaving him with Masrani. The park owner is still standing there in an upsetting pink shirt, an equally alarming smile on his face.

"What's that about, if I may ask?" Zayn gets easily annoyed when people mess with his schedule without informing him but it's not like he can tell that to his boss.

"You'll see," it's the only answer he gets.

After they talk about numbers and statistics, Masrani follows Zayn for the rest of the day, checking on his park for himself, and, at 13:45, they head to the science labs.

This isn't a part of the park that Zayn frequents a lot. He's never been involved with the actual breeding of the creatures, and even if it finds the whole process very fascinating and loves being in the labs when new eggs crack open, he has never had a inkling for science.

That's not the case for Niall, who's waiting for them right outside the R&D wing of the building and is probably the biggest science nerd Zayn has ever met.

Zayn has known Niall his whole life. Like Zayn, he grew up on Isla Nublar, their parents part of the team who reorganized the island after the Jurassic Park disaster. There weren't really that many kids around at the time, apart from Zayn and his sisters, so when this overexcited kid with a ruddy blush on his cheeks and a thick Irish accent had asked him if he wanted to help him see if he could make his toy volcano explode, Zayn had shrugged and said yes.

They've been friend ever since, even if Niall has been a dodgy little shit since he started working on this secret new project and they haven't spent that much time together lately.

The geneticist greets both of them with an almost manic smile and Zayn has known him long enough to recognize his excited face. Zayn never knows if he should feel excited too or crazy worried in these situations. Probably both.

Niall starts blabbing about scientific facts right after his quick hello, walking down the corridor with his hands in the air, frenetically moving while he talks.

Zayn mostly tunes him out. He's smart, very smart, but he's not a scientist and there's really little of what Niall's saying that he can fully understand and if Masrani is here too, Zayn will probably receive a report about this sooner or later anyway.

Zayn has been so distracted by Niall and his enthusiastic speech that it takes him close to five minutes to realize something's off.

Even without ever been involved in the actual creation of the dinosaurs, he knows his way around the labs pretty well, being in charge of the park and all, so he's quite baffled when he notices that Niall's leading them to a wing Zayn didn't even know existed. He narrows his eyes, a questioning look on his face.

"You'll see," Masrani tells him again, not bothered at all by Zayn's uneasiness. He also looks like he knows exactly where they're going, which annoys Zayn even more.

They stop before a reinforced door. That's not unusual but then Niall not only dials a long string of numbers on the little screen on the wall next to it, but he also leans in to allow his eye to be scanned and Zayn tenses. This level of security is above average, even for the R&D department.

"You know how we were never able to show off a T-Rex and make it completely safe," Niall says more for Zayn's benefit that Masrani's, who looks so smug Zayn would slap him if he weren't his boss. He hates when people know things he doesn't.

"We built a bomb-safe enclosure to show off a T-Rex safely," Zayn points out. He has no idea where this is going but he has a bad feeling about it already.

"Yeah, yeah," Niall waves him off. "I mean, we were never able to get people close, like with a Suchomimus, for example. You can sail right next to one with a kayak if you want! And you know how easily the public gets bored. So we thought we could work out something new."

"Something... _new_?" Zayn is almost afraid to ask. He's positive they wouldn't actually do something too dangerous, but after all the pressure to open a raptor exhibit, Zayn isn't so sure about that anymore.

There's not been an incident since before the T-Rex Kingdom opening and Zayn has a feeling that Masrani in getting cocky and reckless and Zayn is worried sick.

"Like an hybrid!" Niall basically yells, looking like a toddler on a sugar high, gesticulating wildly, and Zayn's stomach drops.

"A _what_?" he asks, too shocked to actually process the new information.

"A new kind of dinosaur," Niall goes on. "Something big and scary like Rexy, but docile. To give people the chance to see it up close while being completely safe and without the risk of getting eaten off, you know."

"You wanted to create what, a new T-Rex that people could pet like a baby Ankylosaurus?" Zayn skeptically asks. He's pretty sure they couldn't do that even with all Hammond and Masrani technology combined. You can't take a predator and expect it to act like a prey, overwriting millennia of instinct.

"Of course not," Niall tells him. "But wouldn't that be wicked?"

"Are you mental?" Zayn asks then, eyes wide. He turns so fast toward Masrani it's a miracle he doesn't get whiplash. "You knew about this?"

"I was the one who authorized it," Masrani replies. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Zayn. I was afraid you would react badly after what happened to your father. I hope you understand."

Zayn is not feeling understanding at the moment, he's furious. What happened is not relevant now, this idea is just beyond idiotic.

They play God in the labs everyday, bringing extinct animals back to life, but creating a new dinosaur altogether? That's pushing the line.

"Why telling me now then?" he snaps. "You kept me in the dark for how long exactly?"

"The Indominus Project has been operative for a couple of years. Dr Horan took over from the original team a few months ago," Masrani says.

_Indominus Project_ , they must be joking.

"Do you wanna see her?" Niall asks then, his eyes sparkling.

"You already have one of these things alive?" Zayn is gonna have a stroke.

"We had two, actually," Niall tells him, hands still wildly moving and making his way to a small control room full of monitors, transmitting the live feed of multiple cameras, pointed at what looks like an enclosure very similar to the T-Rex one. "Lambkin ate her brother."

Zayn doesn't have the time to comment on the eaten brother - or the fact that Niall called the hybrid after what sounds like a Shakespearean terms of endearment, because a thermal scan spikes suddenly and a giant red eye appears on one of the monitors.

He jumps back a little and a moment later the creature does the same, stepping back from the camera and retreating in its forest again.

It's massive, bigger than a T-Rex, with osteoderms scattered across its body and horn-like decorations above its eye. Zayn stops breathing.

"Oh, isn't she smart!" Niall exclaims. "She knows we're watching her."

"How can it know that?" Zayn asks, his voice unsteady.

"She can trace thermal signatures," Niall explains. "She can feel we're close. Isn't this the sickest thing?"

Zayn thinks it's stupidly dangerous, that's what it is.

"You said you wanted to create a docile animal," Zayn is still scanning the monitors, the Indominus flicking in and out of the screens every few seconds. "It ate its brother. Does not appear docile to me."

"Yeah, there've been a couple of hiccups in the process," Niall sounds apologetic but he can't contain the glee on his face. "The initial stages were incredibly successful though."

"This thing is dangerous, sir;" Zayn turns around, looking directly at Masrani. "We can't put it anywhere near people."

"Of course, Zayn. This is just a test subject," Masrani agrees. "Dr Horan and his team are trying to suppress the aggressive genes at the moment, so they can develop a new genetic sequence for the next exemplar."

"You're gonna make another one?" Zayn didn't think he could be more shocked. He was wrong.

"We're running compartmental pattern as we speak," Niall confirms.

Zayn leaves the room.

—

He's counting his breaths in the corridor when Masrani catches up with him.

"This whole project is insane," he says before the other man can speak. "Somebody will end up dead if we don't put that thing down."

"I invested a lot of money on this project, Zayn, you have to understand," Masrani replays. "You can expect me to just kill off millions of dollars."

And of course it's about money, it always is.

Zayn takes one last steadying breath and makes up his mind.

"I want to be informed then," he states, clenching his fists. "I wanna know about every little change. You may own this park, sir, but it's my responsibility to keep it running and safe".

"I understand," Masrani nods.

"I wanna know what's in that thing too," Zayn demands.

"I can't divulge that information, it's classified. Not even I am aware of all the component used in the sequencing."

"It's part T-Rex though," Zayn counters.

Masrani nods again.

"If you weren't smart enough to do that already, I want Higgins to double-check the security of this enclosure," Zayn knows he shouldn't speak to his boss the way he is but he's beyond pissed.

"We already asked him," Masrani assures. "The Indominus paddock is secure."

Zayn looks at the floor-to-ceiling windows on his right, the view of the forest behind them, and prays that that's true.

He takes a step closer to the glass, eyes darting around the woods. The Indominus is nowhere to be seen. He's about to turn around and leave when the Indominus emerges from the trees and slams against the glass with so much force the corridor trembles.

The glass doesn't break but Zayn thinks it's a close call.

Niall bursts out of the control room as the Indominus faces them and lets out a roar that makes the whole building shake.

"She's getting angrier," he says before hurrying down the corridor toward one of the labs.

Two big red eyes seem to follow his movements before the creature runs back into the forest.

"I want Payne to check on it too," Zayn whispers, voice shaking a bit.

"The raptor expert?" Masrani asks him. He's trying to look like the Indominus' outburst didn't affect him like it did Zayn, but he's faking it and it's written all over his face.

"Yes," Zayn confirms, glancing back at the forest one last time before hurrying towards his office, the park owner following close behind.

"That can be arranged."

"Good."

—

The second Masrani leaves his office after having followed Zayn back, he calls Caroline.

"I need you to find out where Liam Payne lives," he says.

There a pause, then the sound of someone typing.

"Are you about to ask me to send him flowers or something?" she asks, still typing, her voice colored with mischief.

Zayn would like to add her to the list of people he needs to replace in his life, right beside Harry for example, but he has a more pressing issue to take care of at the moment.

"Just send me the address," he replies before hanging up. He's not even down in the parking lot when his phone beeps.

Liam lives in one of the bungalows that were built to house the families of the old park employees. He probably requested that one instead of one of the new flats because the old living areas are closer to the raptor paddock.

When Zayn parks in front of the building and gets out of the car, Liam is outside working on his motorcycle but Zayn is too worried about everything to even admire the view.

"You know, Zayn," Liam says when he sees him. "I already told you I'm not gonna give you the girls. Coming to my house after hours isn't gonna increase your chances," he tells him, without taking his eyes off the bike he's working on.

It's like a rubber band beings snapped around his wrist, Zayn can't stand the joking tone in Liam's voice, not now when there's a deadly unpredictable monster on his island.

"I don't care about your overgrown lizards right now," Zayn hisses and Liam is taken aback enough to look at him. He looks kinda offended on behalf of his raptors but nobody has time to worry about dinosaurs' feelings now.

"They created a new dinosaur," it's what Zayn says next. "They made a fucking T-Rex hybrid."

That gets Liam's full attention.

"What are you talking about?" he asks, furrowing his brows.

"They mixed up T-Rex DNA with God knows what and created a new dinosaur," Zayn explains, hands frantically running through his hair, messing it up in frustration. "They wanted to make a docile version of a Tyrannosaurus for people to play with or something. Masrani authorized it, it's been in play for years and I only found out today."

"Did it work?" Liam asks. He sounds almost hopeful, the idiot, like he'd love to pet a murderous creature right now. "Did they manage to make a mellower version of Rexy?"

"The thing they created ate its own brother," Zayn replies. "I saw it. It's stuff out of a nightmare."

Liam lets go of the little rag he had in his hands, letting it falls on the ground, and Zayn can see his whole body tense.

"That's not good," Liam says next, now sounding professional and controlled, like he's already trying to evaluate the new creature's threat level. "If it turned on its own sibling we have no idea what it will do if confronted with something foreign."

This is why Zayn asked Masrani to let Liam consult on the security of the Indominus enclosure, because the first thing he thought about was what it would do in a different environment. Liam has always worried about safety when dealing with the raptors and Zayn trusts him to do the same in this situation.

"I asked for you to check the security measures of its paddock," Zayn tells him then. "It's probably been added to your schedule by now."

"Good, that’s good," Liam nods to himself, deep in his thoughts. "We have to make sure it doesn't get out of its enclosure no matter what."

Zayn wholeheartedly agrees.

The worried set of Liam's brow shouldn't make Zayn feel better, but knowing that he's as concerned as him settles something in Zayn, makes him feel somehow safer. And he's aware that it's irrational and stupid but he's also too tired to care.

"I'll probably see you tomorrow," he says, heading back to the Jeep. His shoulders hunched down in exhaustion and he doesn't even try to straighten them. "Just wanted to give you a heads up."

Now that he thinks about it, he could have just called him but he tends to act on impulse when faced with deadly monsters. Because that's what the Indominus is, a monster. They distorted its DNA so much it's not a dinosaur anymore.

"Thanks," Liam calls after him. "I appreciate it."

Zayn lets a small smile slip on his lips. "Anytime."

Liam nods, a concerned look on his face as Zayn drives away.

—

As Zayn predicted, Liam is scheduled to check out the Indominus paddock the next morning at 10:00.

Zayn has just enough time to make a quick stop by control before rushing to the R&D building to catch Liam's arrival.

He's tense, Zayn can tell from the set of his jaw and the way his shoulders square when he walks.

Zayn can see Niall coming from a different entrance and when they all meet before the main door, Liam turns to the geneticist and simply says, "Show me."

Niall nods and lead the way to the viewing corridor.

"We monitor the Indominus enclosure 24/7, of course" Niall starts listing security measures as they walk. "We have thermal scanners that cover every inch of her habitat and we inserted a GPS tracing device under her skin right after she was born. Her position in the enclosure and the state of her vitals are updated constantly. The fence that surrounds Lambkin's forest is 40 feet tall and—“

"Wait, did you just call her Lambkin?" Niall gets interrupted.

"She's white and was supposed to be docile," Niall shrugs.

"Makes sense," Liam agrees.

After that Niall gives both Zayn and Liam a folder that contains Higgins' report on the security of the structure isolating the Indominus and they read it before entering the monitoring room.

Liam looks at the vitals for a moment before focusing on the screens that show the perimeter of the enclosure. A little red dot tells them the Indominus is moving in the middle of the forest but the trees are too thick to get a good look.

"Do you have footage of the incident with the brother?" Liam asks suddenly.

"We do," Niall says and gestures to the boy sitting before the main monitor to bring the video up.

When it starts, Zayn thinks he’s going to throw up. The sound the dying Indominus is making will probably haunt his nightmares for a long time.

Liam is standing right next to him and, when Zayn's hands start to shake a little, he grabs his forearm to steady him. Zayn lets him.

When the video ends, Liam lets go of Zayn's arm, exiting the room without a word, a serious expression on his face. Zayn follows him to the viewing corridor a second later.

The Indominus is nowhere to be seen so Liam starts to inspect the glass. He stops when he reaches the edge of the window and turns to Zayn.

"Do you know how long have those cracks been there?" he asks, pointing at a web of tiny lines spreading from the low edge of the glass towards the ceiling.

"They weren't there yesterday," Zayn freezes.

The Indominus chooses that moment to makes its appearance and Zayn takes an instinctive step back.

This time it doesn't launches himself at the glass, it gets closer, though, and stares right in Liam's direction, the glass between them fogging up with the Indominus' breath.

Liam stares right back, not a muscle moving.

"Can she see us?" he asks.

"Not through that glass," Niall answers from the door of the monitoring room. "She can detect temperature signatures, though."

Liam nods almost imperceptibly before taking a step back, never leaving the Indominus' eyes. It seems to stare back before bringing up its right forelimb, so developed compared to a T-Rex's one, and slamming a claw in the middle of the pre-existing crack on the window before running back under the cover of the trees.

Everyone in the corridor freezes, Zayn's sharp intake of breath the only sound for a long moment.

"What was that?" Niall yells when he shakes himself out of his shock.

"You need to get this glass reinforced," Liam orders in lieu of an answer, looking at him sharply. "Right now."

When he walks out, Zayn follows him while Niall busies himself making phone calls to the security department to get a new glass.

Liam jerks around and looks at Zayn as soon as they reach the parking lot again.

"I've never seen a dinosaur targeting a weakness in its enclosure like that," it's the first thing he says. "I only read reports about something similar, old ones. Original park old. And they were about Velociraptors."

Zayn read that same report when he was younger and he doesn't take much for him to connect the dots when he remembers Masrani's face when he asked what they put in the Indominus DNA. He sucks in a breath and pales.

"She's way smarter then a T-Rex," Liam seems to be getting to the same conclusion. "What did they mix T-Rex DNA with to create her?" he asks.

Zayn shakes his head. "They won't tell me. It's classified."

Liam looks at him in confusion. "But you run this park. You're the highest ranking authority after Masrani."

"And they won't tell me," Zayn repeats, pinning Liam with his eyes.

Liam shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair, pulling at a couple of strands.

"Fuck," he says in the end.

"I know," Zayn replies.

—

It's been two weeks since the Indominus panic started - that's how Zayn is calling it in his head, nobody needs to know - and Zayn is still freaking out about it.

The fact is that he can't really talk about it with anyone because no one knows they're keeping a deadly hybrid monster on the island.

He won't talk to Niall because he's too upset with him about keeping this bullshit secret and he won't talk to Masrani because he doesn't want to yell at his boss another time and get fired. He does likes his job quite a bit, after all.

But since he learned about the hybrid, he's been on edge. He's become almost manic when he checks in with control every morning and he starts to get angsty if Josh, the boy in charge of monitoring the Indominus enclosure, doesn't send him regular updates.

Liam has been on edge too and Zayn has been texting him any news Josh provides, but they're not properly talking, they're just exchanging informations.

And even if nothing new happened, Zayn can't help but be a nervous wreck. He snapped at Harry for no apparent reason the other morning, for crying out loud.

So, after pacing in his office from twenty minutes, he does the only thing he can do. He takes his car out to the old bungalows and goes to talk to the only other person in the know, Liam Payne.

This is probably a bad idea, Zayn reasons, but if he doesn't talk about this with someone he's gonna go insane and that would be even worse.

He doesn't even text Liam, just shows up on his doorstep. Maybe a part of him is hoping he won't be home, maybe he's afraid Liam would tell him he doesn't want him to stop by, but when Zayn knocks a deep voice shouts, "Just a sec!" and then the door is opening.

Zayn just stands there, taking in Liam's tank top and basketball shorts, a kitchen spatula in his hand and his naked toes wiggling on the pavement. Zayn has never seen him outside of a work related situation and his first reaction to a casual dressed Liam is to laugh in his face.

"So I guess nobody died yet," Liam deadpans but there's an amused smile tugging at his lips.

"Not yet, no," Zayn replies.

He's still dressed in a button-down shirt and his suit trousers because he didn't think to go home and change before showing up on Liam's front step, he just tugged off his tie and left it in the car, and he now feels overdressed.

He doesn't have time to dwell on trivial details like that, though, because Liam steps aside to let Zayn walk in.

"Come in," he smiles, always polite. "I'm making fettuccine Alfredo if you haven't eaten yet."

As if on cue, Zayn's stomach grumbles and he blushes, following Liam inside.

The bungalow is smaller than he thought from the outside, if he's honest, and if there were walls dividing the space, they've been knocked down, turning the main room into an open space.

Zayn picks his way around, looking at the small kitchenette on the side, with Liam busy at the stove, the little table with only two chairs by the window, the old ratty couch in front of a juxtaposing modern flat screen tv and the big queen sized bed in the corner. There's a closet shoved against the wall next to the bed and the only other door in the house probably leads to the bathroom.

Zayn notices the shelves on the wall are full of books and comics and the wires of what looks like a gaming console are poking from under the tv set.

"So, if we're not facing an imminent emergency," Liam says, snapping Zayn out of his snooping. "What brings you to my humble home?" he jokes.

"Your cooking skills, apparently," Zayn answers and Liam winks at him.

"Plates are in that cupboard," he gestures with his spatula, "Cutlery's in the drawer, beer's in the fridge."

Zayn nods and set a plate down opposite Liam's before retrieving two beers for the little fridge.

The pasta is ready a moment later. The small talks they exchange while eating are kinda awkward but not painfully so and as soon as their stomachs are full, Liam piles the dirty dishes in the sink and gestures for Zayn to sit on the couch.

"What's up?" he asks after a moment, after Zayn spent a couple of minutes picking at the beer bottle's stickers. "I make a smashing pasta, yes, but that's not why you're here." It's not a question and Zayn feels his cheeks heat up so he doesn't turn to face Liam before he speaks.

"I needed someone to talk to," he mumbles. "My options are kinda limited right now."

Liam puts a hand on Zayn's shoulders. "It's okay," he tells him. "I could use someone to talk to as well."

Liam stands up and gets them two fresh beers. He sets them on the coffee table in front of them before sitting down.

"This is so fucked up," Zayn says. He's holding his new beer but he's just peeling off the new sticker without actually drinking any. "I've been freaking out since the second I saw it."

Liam says noting, letting Zayn vent. He lets him rant about the stupidity of the whole idea, the arrogance and recklessness of this project and just sips at his beer, listening to Zayn.

Zayn keeps talking and he doesn't realize his hands are shaking until Liam grabs one and squeezes tight.

"When Masrani took me there the first time," he murmurs, all the anger lacing his words till that point disappearing. "The Indominus attacked the glass the moment we stepped in the corridor," Zayn squeezes Liam's hand back. It's comforting and Zayn doesn't care about looking strong right now.

"It just threw itself at the windows," Zayn says. "For a second, I thought I was gonna die. I've never been that scared for my life."

"I checked all the paddock security measures," Liam tells him, his fingers still reassuringly secured around Zayn's. "Higgins did a good job. They basically improved Rexy's enclosure and put Lambkin in the safest place they could build. Higgins' report says he didn't want the glass corridor to be made because he was worried about its durability, but R&D needed a place to observe the creature behavior."

"They should have put it down after it ate its own brother," Zayn continues. "If it gets out—“

Zayn doesn't finish that sentence because Liam cups his cheek with his hands and gently makes Zayn look at him.

"She won't, Zayn," he whispers. "She won't get out. They increased the security controls. It's safe. We're safe," he says, looking in Zayn's eyes and leaning closers to make their forehead touch, just breathing, the contact soothing and calming, making Zayn feel overwhelmed.

There are a lot of 'maybes' that could explain what happens next.

It might be that Zayn has been fighting panic attacks for a week, or the way he can feel heat radiating from the place Liam's hand is touching him, or that there's a monster a few miles from them that could kill them all. Maybe it's the fact that they both know they can fit together if they want to, or the way Liam's eyes flicker to Zayn's lips for a second. Maybe it's because it's Liam and Zayn is tired of denying himself what he wants just because he made a mistake once, years ago. 

What happens is that Zayn moves forward, tasting beer on Liam's lips.

It's not even a kiss, because he breaks the contact immediately, jerking back like he's been electrocuted and getting off the couch.

"I'm sorry," he says, going straight for the door. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. Because I wasn't thinking! I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have involved you in this mess in the first place—“

He's still apologizing, a hand on the door handle when Liam grips his arm and spins him around.

"Could you stop for a second?" he asks before framing Zayn's face with both hands. He leans in, driving their lips together again.

It's a proper kiss this time. Liam's lips move against Zayn's and after a moment Zayn's move too. His back connects with the door and Liam pushes his body against Zayn's, pressing them together from head to toe.

"Don't apologize," Liam mumbles against Zayn's lips. "Don't go," he adds. Zayn answers kissing back.

Things get heated pretty quickly after that. When Liam presses even closer, hands tangling in Zayn's hair, the door handle starts digging in Zayn's hip and he pushes at Liam shoulders, moving away from the door and in the general direction of the bed.

He toes off his shoes on the way, trying not to break contact with Liam's lips. When he does, he just starts kissing down Liam's neck.

Liam spins them around at some point, gently shoving Zayn toward the bed, but when they reach the mattress, it's Zayn that pushes Liam down.

He lands on the bed and props himself up a bit, balancing himself on his elbows, looking at Zayn, still standing at the edge, fully clothed but with his perfect hair all messed up.

The next second Zayn is climbing on the mattress as well, crowding Liam with his body, one knee on either side of his hips. Liam looks at him, a question in his eyes, but when Zayn leans down and bites at his lips, he just untucks Zayn's shirt from his trousers and pushes it up.

"I thought this was never gonna happen again," Liam pants against Zayn's neck, kissing his jaw next. "I've been thinking on ways to get to you for the last two years," he confesses, finally sliding his hands under Zayn's shirt, touching skin at last.

"What are you even talking about?" Zayn breaths. It's not really paying attention at what Liam is saying right now, he's kinda distracted.

"I said—“ Liam starts to repeat but ends up chuckling halfway through his sentence. "It doesn't matter. I got you here in the end."

"You just needed a genetically engineered monster," Zayn tells him, grabbing the hem of his top and starting to pull in up. "It wasn't that difficult."

"You're right," Liam gasps out while Zayn drags his shirt over his head. "Should have thought about that sooner."

"You should've," Zayn replies, throwing Liam's shirt somewhere before starting to unbutton his own. He looks at Liam, his hair got all spiked up when he got him out of his shirt and his mouth is half-open, his breathing uneven.

Zayn pushes him flat on the mattress again and kisses his jaw, sliding down his neck, his lips ghosting over the sensitive skin before he bites down just under Liam's little birthmark, like he's staking claim.

Liam's breath comes rushing out his lunges at that and then he cries out when Zayn teeth close on this right nipple.

"Zayn," he gasps, thrusting his hips up, searching for friction.

Zayn bites him harder then, before pushing himself up to shrugs his shirt off.

"Now shut up and help me get out of my clothes," he tells Liam, hands moving towards his belt buckle.

Liam bats Zayn's hands away, getting rid of the belt and popping the button of Zayn's trousers. He pushes down the fabric, hooking his thumbs in Zayn's boxer briefs and dragging them down too.

Zayn gets off the bed then, kicking the rest of his clothing off. He stands there, naked at the edge of the bed, looking pointedly at Liam.

When Liam just stares back, eyes glazed and pupils huge, Zayn huffs before moving forward, sliding his hands under the elastic band of the baseball shorts. Liam gets the message and lifts his hips to let Zayn take them off. He goes commando when he's off work, it seems. Zayn is quite pleased with the new discovery.

Zayn crawls back on the bed next but the second he does Liam sits up, meeting him halfway and searching for his lips.

They stay like that for a while, Zayn in Liam's lap, kissing fast and hard at first, teeth clashing and tongues fighting for control, but slowing down after the initial rush, just enjoying being in each other's space.

Zayn is an impatient guy, though, and when he starts grinding down against Liam's crotch with intent, Liam grabs his hips with his big hands and flips their position. When Zayn's shoulders hit the mattress, Liam looks at him and smirks, he puts one hand on either one of Zayn's knees and spread his legs, settling between them. He leans down then, forgoing Zayn's lips altogether and kissing his collarbone first then starting a path down his chest. He looks up at Zayn through his lashes before licking his way back up, taking his time mapping Zayn's tattoos with his tongue.

Zayn doesn't feel like taking this slow. He puts a hand on the nape of Liam's neck, urging him up, before thrusting his tongue in Liam's mouth, tasting his own salty skin.

"Do you plan on moving things along anytime soon?" Zayn tries to sound annoyed but his voice comes out more shaky and breathless than he planned. "Or are you just gonna be teasing me all night?"

"Haven't decided yet," Liam half shrugs, one hand keeping him up.

His other hand, the one on the side of Zayn's neck, moves a second later, though, and Liam circles his fingers around Zayn's cock. The contact is feather-light, not even close to what Zayn needs right now, but the anticipation makes him shudder.

"Fuck," he whispers, closing his eyes and breathing in to collect himself.

Liam doesn't give him the chance. He ducks down and runs his tongue over the underside of Zayn's cock before enveloping the head in the warmth of his mouth, at the same time his hand tighten its grip on the base. Zayn has to suppress the scream bubbling in his throat at that, but when Liam sucks him down, Zayn does shout, hands fisted in the sheets.

He wants so badly to just thrust up, but Liam is keeping him pinned to the mattress with his free hand, so the only thing Zayn can do is hold on tight.

Liam is merciless. He uses his tongue to coat Zayn's length with saliva before starting to work his way down again. With his hand covering what he can't fit in his mouth, it's not long before he gets the right rhythm going. Zayn is panting like he run for miles by then, hands spasming they're fisted so tight.

"Liam," he cries. "Can you— fuck, just—“ he tries to say and Liam moves back, twists his tongue and Zayn hips jerks up, one of his hands flying in Liam's hair, pulling at them.

"I'm gonna come," he shudders. "If you keep that up, I'm gonna come."

Liam pulls off at that. "That's the whole point, you know?" he smugly smiles up at him.

Zayn rolls his eyes at the ceiling. "Not if I want to come while you fuck me," he says and Liam swears.

He almost falls off the bed when he reaches for the top drawer of his nightstand, pulling out some lube and a condom. He tosses them both next to Zayn's hip, kneeling between his legs.

Zayn realizes in that moment that he hasn't touched Liam's dick yet, and that's really a shame. He reaches out, managing to stroke the thick length a couple of times, getting it fully hard, before Liam puts a hand on his wrist and stops him.

He looks down at Zayn and pulls him up, sliding a hand in his hair and kissing him like it's his last chance to do that.

If Zayn wasn't already fully hard, that kiss would have done the trick, he thinks when Liam pulls at his hair a little more, forcing Zayn to break the kiss and bare his throat to Liam.

"I wanna feel you around me so bad," he groans, biting Zayn's jugular, not hard enough to leave a mark. Zayn is kinda disappointed about that.

"Then prove it," he challenges, reaching for Liam's cock again.

Liam doesn't let him, though. He pushes him back against the mattress and uncaps the lube, squeezing some on his fingers before nudging Zayn's legs open a bit more.

Zayn hisses when the cold digits touch him but then Liam is circling Zayn's opening with one finger and he grabs the sheets again, the cold not a problem anymore. Just before the first finger pushes its way in, Liam places his free hand over one of Zayn's, holding tight.

Liam slides his first finger in and Zayn is positive he's not going to last. It's been too long since he last did this and the sensory overload is almost too much.

Liam slowly adds a second finger, taking his time and letting Zayn adjust.

"I'm not gonna break," Zayn tells him when Liam hesitates before sliding another finger alongside the other two. Liam huffs in mock-annoyance at that.

A third finger finally pushes inside and Zayn throws his head back, mouth open and eyes blown wide, the perfect mix of pleasure and pain running up his spine.

Liam twists his fingers then and Zayn cries out his name when Liam finds that spot inside him that makes stars implode in Zayn's brain.

"I'm ready, I'm ready," he blurts out, blindly searching for the condom wrapper.

He finds it and tears it open, reaching down to slide it on Liam's dick. He grabs the lube next, stroking Liam for a moment to spread it around.

Liam pulls his fingers out and Zayn's hole clenches down onto nothing for a second.

"Fuck," he groans. "Fuck me now."

Liam quickly pecks his lips one more time, lining himself up, and then he's slinging in, one slow inch at a time. Zayn closes his eyes and takes everything Liam is willing to give him, his cock stretching him open.

When Liam finally bottoms out, Zayn lets out a moan he didn't even realize he was holding and wraps his legs around Liam's waist, trying to draw him in even more.

Liam pauses, touching his forehead to Zayn's, just like he did on the couch before they kissed and then leans down, closing the gap between their lips.

This kiss is hungry, unforgiving, and Zayn tries to push Liam even deeper inside of him but the other man doesn't move, just staying still, buried in Zayn's hot body for a moment more.

"If you don't move," Zayn snaps at him. "I swear, Liam."

"Stop telling me what to do, babe" Liam shuts him up, pulling out until only the tip of his cock is still stretching Zayn open. Then he suddenly thrusts back in all the way.

All the air in Zayn's lungs is punched out of him. He digs his nails where he's holding on Liam's shoulder, leaving half-moon shaped marks behind.

"Fuck," he gasps, one hand fisting in Liam's hair when he thrust back in, slow but deep, making Zayn shake.

"Yeah," Liam murmurs on his lips.

Zayn loses track of time after that. He just knows that at some point he started clutching at Liam's shoulders and never let go afterward. He knows Liam keeps kissing him, or he keeps kissing Liam - the details are not too sharp in Zayn's mind at the moment - but in the end the kisses become something more like their lips resting against each other, another point of contact, while they share breaths.

When Liam finds his prostate again, Zayn almost loses it.

"Don't stop," he pleads. "Don't ever stop, please."

Liam buries his head in the hollow of Zayn's shoulder, kissing the warm skin under his mouth, and starts thrusting deeper and deeper, ever searching for the sweet spot that sparks pleasure inside Zayn like fireworks.

Zayn feels his orgasm getting closer every time Liam pushes in and he gets lost in the waves of pleasure that keep crashing against his bones. He sneaks a hand between them, touching himself, and a moment later Liam joins him, their fingers interlocked while they chase Zayn's release.

When he comes, Liam's name is on his lips, his arms and legs wrapped around Liam's body like he's holding onto a lifeline.

Liam fucks him through it, slowing down when he thinks Zayn might be already a little too sensitive, but keeping his pace steady, searching for his own release.

"I've got you," Liam whispers, his lips brushing against Zayn's temple. "I've got you," he says again before shattering under Zayn's hands.

He can feel Liam's dick twitch inside him and then he goes still, a silent scream on his lips before crashing down on top of Zayn, lost in his own pleasure.

Zayn holds him tight, letting him catch his breath.

After a moment Liam pulls out as gently as he can, moving away from Zayn to tie the condom off and toss it away, before resting his face in the space between Zayn's neck and shoulder, lips barely touching skin, and throwing his arm over Zayn's chest.

"I know you probably wanna clean up," Liam mumbles, sounding half asleep already. "But can we just stay here for a moment?"

Zayn feels kinda gross and sweaty but he can't bring himself to care. He rests a hand on the nape of Liam's neck and just breaths.

"Yeah," he answers in the end.

—

"I thought you kinda hated me, if I have to be honest," Liam tells him after, when they've cleaned up and are just lying between the sheets.

"What gave me away?" Zayn laughs. "Me pretending to ignore you for the last two years?"

"You never called," Liam says.

"Nether did you," Zayn replies.

"You threw my clothes in the hallway outside your office," Liam looks at him sideways for a moment and Zayn winces. He did that, right.

"I thought you were interested in something, but you started ignoring me after, so I let it go," Liam adds. "Well, I tried to, anyways."

Zayn sighs, thinking back at two years ago, at Liam shyly flirting with him after a meeting, at him getting bolder when Zayn flirted back. Their little banters, the excuses to spend time together. And then everything that came crashing down.

"I was a mess back then," Zayn admits. "I must've been sending some pretty mixed signals."

The months right after his father incident are still kinda blurry in Zayn's mind, but he remembers how he felt lost and hopeless. He wouldn't have dragged Liam into it, he didn't deserve that. But he deserves an explanation now.

"After my father—“ Zayn stops himself a bit too late. "After the incident at the T-Rex enclosure, I shut everyone out. But you had already slipped in, without me even noticing, and after I felt so out of control I threw you out again. I'm sorry."

It had taken Harry breaking into his flat to drag him out of his misery, actually, but Liam doesn't need to know that.

Liam is quiet for a second, piecing things together in his brain and probably checking timelines in his mind but he makes the connection in the end.

"The engineer who died when the electric fence in the T-Rex paddock malfunctioned, right before it opened to the public," he's looking at Zayn with glassy eyes, like he's going to cry the tears Zayn can't cry anymore because he used them all up already. "They never divulged his name."

"I asked not to," Zayn explains. "He was a very private person. He wouldn't have wanted everyone tossing his name around."

"He was your father," Liam doesn't pose it as a question but it sounds like he's asking for confirmation so Zayn nods. "He saved the whole park."

"Big shoes to fill," Zayn replies before going quiet, drawing new tattoos on Liam's skin with his fingertips.

—

"This wasn't here before" Zayn whispers sometime later, tracing a now faded scar that runs from Liam's right shoulder to his elbow.

"Yeah, it wasn't," Liam replies, turning around and catching Zayn's lips in a soft kiss. "Got it not too long after".

Zayn looks at him quizzically, silently asking for an explanation.

"The raptors were still young, tiny wee things," Liam murmurs, a fond smile on his lips. "Not even two feet tall but they're lethal at eight months, you know," Liam explains. "Anyway, I was in the cage," Liam goes on and Zayn widens his eyes. He remembers the tiny raptors, bred after the first ones got sick due to an error in their DNA sequencing. Liam had been devastated when the three had died, but Zayn remembers when the first new egg had cracked under the lab's lamps and the way Liam's eyes had welled up when he first held a newborn Blue in the palm of his hand. He hasn't left the raptor ever since, Zayn knows that, but he didn't know Liam used to train them _in_ the cage, he never did when Zayn was around back then.

"I was a bit careless," Liam goes on like nothing. They're gonna have words about that later, when Zayn is less sleepy. For now he lets Liam finish his story. "Turned my back on Echo for half a second to get Delta's attention and little E just launched at me, almost clawed a piece of my arm off." Liam starts laughing then and, not for the first time, Zayn thinks he's insane. He trains raptors for a living so that's probably not a wrong assumption.

"Why are you laughing?" Zayn asks him, baffled. "You could have bled out if she had hit an artery."

"Almost did," Liam replies, a grin on his face. "But Blue literally threw Echo off me and Andy got me out while Charlie and Delta hissed at her like angry snakes. It was sick, man."

"Sick," Zayn repeats and Liam smiles so wide he's basically beaming.

Yup, Zayn thinks, totally insane.

—

They fall asleep at some point, and when Zayn wakes up in the middle of the night, Liam is spread out on his belly, head half on Zayn's same pillow, his arm thrown across Zayn's stomach, holding him close.

Zayn falls asleep again with a silly simile on his face.

When Zayn wakes up the next morning at the crack of dawn, Liam is already brewing some coffee. He grabs a t-shirt he finds on the floor and Liam smiles at him from the stove, handing him a cup of hot goodness. He lets Zayn drink it before grabbing the front of the wrinkled tee and dragging him in for a kiss.

"Good morning," he whispers against Zayn's lips. "I have to be at the paddock in twenty minutes."

"I have to go home and shower before going to work," Zayn replies, searching for another kiss. "And I'm stealing some sweatpants, if that's okay."

Liam laughs, throwing his head back a little, and there's a little red mark at the base of his neck.

"Hi," he says, looking at Zayn like he can't believe his eyes.

"Hi," he says back, a soft smiles on his face.

—

His suspicions about Harry tracking employees' GPS signals are confirmed when he walks in the control room and the technician jumps up and points at him.

"I knew the raptors were just an excuse!" he yells grinning like a child on Christmas.

Zayn doesn't even deny it, he's just glad the only other person already in the room this early is Louis.

—

Zayn drives down to the R&D building a couple of hours later with a genuine smile on his face, still riding the high from the night before.

He gets in and stands by the retina scan, waiting to be granted access to the Indominus monitoring room.

Josh texted him half an hour ago and asked him to come down to the labs asap. Niall texted him too, but Zayn suspects he did that more to try and get Zayn to talk to him again - spoiler alert: it's not working - so Zayn isn't really surprised when he walks in the monitoring room and find the geneticist waiting for him.

"I really don't want to talk to you," he says instead of hello, sidestepping him to go and look at the monitors.

He nods at Josh, who's already bringing up footage from the night before, and a video of the Indominus scratching at one of the wall starts playing.

"There's been another incident," Niall tells him.

"I can see that," he replies, finally looking at Niall.

The blonde scientist looks ashen, like he hasn't had a good night sleep in weeks, and Zayn has to resist the urge to hug him or something because, even if he's quite pissed at him right now, Niall is still one of his best mates and seeing him this upset is unnatural.

"She's restless," Niall is pacing around the small room, eyes nervously flicking up to check the monitors every other second. "She's been getting angrier with every passing day and I don't know why. She never acted like this."

Zayn shakes his head.

"You played God in a lab full of experimental tech. Did you really expect your mad plan to work?" he asks.

"We didn't jump into it, Zayn," Niall looks more frustrated than Zayn has ever seen him. "We did extensive research, we run probability tests, a lot of them. It should have worked."

"Well, news flash, Niall," Zayn snaps. "It didn't. And you should have killed that thing off the second you realized how dangerous it was."

"She's contained," Niall sounds like he's trying to convince himself as much as Zayn.

"I really hope this doesn't change anytime soon," Zayn tells him before going out on the viewing corridor to take a look at the glass.

"There's another crack."

"I know," Niall whispers, standing beside him. "She keeps messing the windows up as soon as we replace them. We reinforced them but she's stronger than we anticipated."

Zayn scans the forest and manages to sees a glimpse of white scales but that's it, the Indominus stays hidden.

"Could it jump the fence?" he suddenly asks, looking at the scratches on the wall.

There's a long pause, so long that Zayn thinks that Niall left the corridor without him noticing but when he turns, he's still standing there, looking at the ground in defeat.

"I don't know," it's the answer Zayn gets in the end.

Zayn sighs before he remembers the security report that was given to him and looks at Niall again.

"I thought the perimeter was electrified," he says. "How can she even touch it without getting shocked?"

"It was," Niall runs a hand down his face, like he's trying to wipe his worry away. "She dug the wiring out of the ground and cut the power off. If the gate opening hadn't been connected to a different power source—“

Niall doesn't finish that sentence but Zayn doesn't need him to. What he's implying is crystal clear.

"It's actively looking for a way to escape," Zayn says.

"It’s—“ Niall has to stop and clear his voice before he's able to continue. "It's a possibility."

"Niall," Zayn looks at him - _really_ looks at him now - and for the first time he realizes it. Niall is scared, scared shitless, and Zayn puts aside his anger for a moment and gives in, wrapping his arms around the geneticist shoulders and tugging him into a hug.

"We can’t—“ Niall's voice breaks. "We thought we could, Zayn. We were so sure, but we can't and I don't know what to do."

Zayn tightens his hold on Niall, containing the quiet sobs breaking next to his neck.

"I'm gonna talk to Masrani," he whispers, a hand stroking Niall's back. "I'm gonna make sure the Indominus project is terminated, even if it's the last thing I do before getting fired. I promise, Ni. It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna make this okay."

Niall doesn't respond, letting Zayn comfort him until his breathing is even again, and then he takes a step back.

"Thank you," his eyes are still glassy when he looks up and Zayn lets a sad smile line his lips before patting Niall's shoulder and heading towards Masrani's office.

He sees another flash of white scales run through the forest right before the automatic doors slide close.

—

His phone starts ringing when he's not even out of the building.

"She's gone," Niall shouts from the other end of the line.

"What!?" Zayn shouts back, already turning around.

"The thermal scan doesn't show any signature in the enclosure!"

"How's that even possible? I was there less than three minutes ago. I saw it in the forest," Zayn asks, running back to the monitoring room.

"I know," Zayn can hear Niall typing furiously. "I can't find her! What do we do?"

"I'm almost there," Zayn answers back, already out of breath. "You can't just lose an Indominus Rex, Niall. You can't."

When Zayn enters the monitoring room a moment later, he sees the perimeter of the paddock is surrounded by armed guards and a few of them are in the viewing corridor too, their weapons trained at the glass. A small team is entering the enclosure, rifles pointed at the trees. Someone is shouting at Josh on the phone. The boy hangs up and looks at them.

"Higgins is almost here," he tells them and his voice trembles. He's so young, Zayn seems to notice that for the first time, and he's scared for his life. "He was already coming here to check the windows again."

The technician has just finished talking when the head of security for the T-Rex center runs in.

"Don't open that gate," he orders. "She's still inside."

Zayn looks at the certainty on Higgins face and turn to Josh.

"Get them out!" he shouts at him and then watches him pick up a radio and yell at the ACU team to get out, get out now.

"You sent people in?" Higgins hollers. "What were you thinking?"

"The scans showed an empty paddock," Niall points at the screens in question, fingers trembling.

"And you thought the Indominus just vanished?" the security chief asks him like he's talking to a child. "She's still inside."

"How's that possible?" Niall is starting to panic, his claustrophobia making it difficult for him to stay calm in the small room now that it's crammed full of people. "The thermal scans—“

 

"Did you check her GPS?" Higgins barks. "Tell me you checked the bloody GPS."

They didn't. It's clear they were panicking too much to think of that and now Josh is typing furiously at his keyboard. It takes less than thirty seconds for a little dot to appear at the edge of the forest after the tracking device gets activated and they all just stare at it in disbelief for a moment.

"How is that possible?" Zayn is looking at the red dot, his heart beating almost out of his chest.

"Tree frog DNA," Niall realizes. "It was supposed to help her adapt to the climate."

"Why can't we see her, though?" Zayn asks, scanning the monitors again.

"Cuttlefishes—“ Niall starts to explain but he's interrupted by sudden gunfire.

The wall trembles as the Indominus roars, sprinting out of the trees and clawing at two guards, throwing them in the air. Higgins runs out the room, going down the stairs to the enclosure's perimeter, snatching a gun on his way.

In the monitoring room, Zayn watches a guard's arm being eaten off while the Indominus runs toward the closing gate.

"She set up a trap," Niall gasps, frozen next to Zayn. "She planned this out. How—“

Zayn isn't paying attention to what he's saying, busy watching Higgins load his gun before positioning himself in front of the gate to start shooting at the hybrid.

He sees it almost in slow motion, like in a horrible, terrifying movie. The bullets don't even seem to slow the Indominus down and Higgins is thrown against the fence, the Indominus tearing half the gate down before disappearing in the North forest.

—

Everything's frantic after that.

A second team of guards enters the enclosure, checking on the remains of the first one.

"They're all dead," the team leader voice sounds scratchy in the intercom speaker.

"Higgins is still alive," another shouts. "Someone call a med team right now, his head is bleeding!"

Zayn watches the Indominus GPS signal get further up on the map, deeper in the forest. Niall is clutching a comm speaker so tight it's a miracle the plastic isn't cracking.

"She escaped," he's shouting. "The asset is out of containment. I repeat, the Indominus Rex escaped."

Zayn hears an alarm blast through the facility and he's still staring at the GPS signal when Niall grabs his arm.

"What do we do?" Niall cries, panicked and scared. The look on his face could be found next to an encyclopedia entry, under the voice _pure terror,_ but Zayn feels calm. Zayn is the image of calm right now because there's no way the Indominus escaped. It's not possible and Zayn is refusing to believe the last five minutes actually happened.

"Zayn!" Niall shakes him. "Zayn, what do we do?" he pleads.

Zayn looks at him for a second, processing everything before snapping out of his daze and springing into action.

"Get Payne" he shouts at one of the guards, turning around and running out to the parking lot where he left his car. "Get me Liam Payne right now!"

—

He busts into the control room a handful of minutes later, after having almost driven himself off the road twice due to how much he was speeding.

"Shut down the park!" he shouts at Harry and Louis as soon as the doors open, interrupting their latest bicker. They both look at him quizzically, blessedly unaware of what's happening.

"What?" Louis asks like Zayn is insane. 

"Is that even possible?" Harry questions, his brows scrunching up in confusion.

Zayn doesn't acknowledge them.

"Shut down the park," he repeats again. "Close everything. Get everybody off the rides and relocate all the guests to a secure location," he instructs, typing furiously on his phone while he speaks. "Yes, it's possible Haz. So do it. Now!"

"But why?" Harry and Louis ask at the same time, puzzled.

Zayn takes a breath and looks at them.

"We have a code 19," he says.

"An asset is out of containment?" Louis is already checking his feed. "Nothing looks out of place here."

"Because nothing you're aware of is," Zayn explains. "This is way above your clearance level but you need to know that, as of ten minutes ago, a new dinosaurs engineered by Dr Horan's team escaped its paddock," he's talking to the room at large now, trying to stay professional and as calm as he can to avoid spreading even more fear. "The base genome is that of a T-Rex," he adds and sees panic flash on his friends' faces.

"Holy shit," Harry yells before taking over all the remote controls of the rides and bridging guests back to the entrances while Louis shouts in his headset.

—

Liam calls him before Zayn has time to.

"What happened?" he says as soon as Zayn picks up. "What's happening now?"

"It tricked the thermal scans," Zayn explains. "They mixed its DNA with that of some frog that can do that or something. Niall thought it escaped and a team went in." Zayn hears the sharp intake of breath coming from the other end of the line when he adds, "They're all dead, Liam."

"Fuck," Liam swear down the line. He sounds out of breath, like he's running.

"It tore down the gate and ran in the North forest," Zayn goes on, trying to relate as many informations as he can. He grabs a wireless headset and loop it around his ear so he can bring up the Indominus GPS tracking signal on his phone.

"Where are you now?" Liam asks. "Are you safe?"

"I don't know where _safe_ is right now," Zayn tells him. He honestly doesn't know. "I'm in the control room, I need to get people to safety," he explains. "Tomlinson and Styles are shutting everything down."

He almost doesn't hear the muttered, "That's good," over the sound of an alarm now ringing on Liam's side of the line.

"Where are you?" Zayn asks.

"The enclosure," Liam answers. "Entering the monitoring room now."

Zayn can tell the moment Liam sees the tore down gate from the loud curse that comes through the speaker. He doesn't try to say something conforming or promise that everything is gonna be alright like he did with Niall because this is Liam, and he knows as well as Zayn does that the chances of this ending without people getting hurt are slim to none.

"I'm looking at the GPS," Liam says after a moment, just as Zayn's phone boots up too.

"The Indominus is looping back," they say at the same time.

Zayn looks at Harry and Louis, shouting down phone lines and typing programming sequences non-stop.

"Get everyone off this island," he orders them.

"No," Masrani interjects, entering the room.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he hears Liam shout next. "Those are tranq guns, you can't chase her with non-lethals!"

"We're under order to capture, not kill," somebody replies him. "Now calm down, Payne."

"Cowell, that's insane," Liam yells before the line gets disconnected.

"What's going on?" Zayn basically growls at Masrani.

"I already told you," the man replies, looking at him like he's stating something obvious. "I can't just kill off a scientific milestone."

Zayn doesn't care about that. That's not the priority right now.

"It killed people."

Masrani's shoulders tense but he doesn't back down.

"I know," he simply acknowledges.

"It's gonna kill everything that moves," Zayn grits his teeth, anger bubbling under his skin. "And it's headed back toward the park. Toward _civilians_."

"Cowell's team is going to stop her before she becomes a threat to our guests," his boss assures.

"She's already a threat!" Zayn yells but the man turns around, ignoring him.

"Just get the guests back to the resort," Masrani instructs the technicians in the room. "Tell them there's been a malfunction and don't spread panic. The situation is under control."

"It's never been under control," Zayn hisses at him before running back to his car and driving to the enclosure again.

Harry sends him a lost glance before the doors shut between them but there is nothing Zayn can do to reassure his friend now.

—

When he arrives at the paddock, he circles the building and parks right next to the enclosure’s perimeter, now that all the gates are open. He sees a group of InGen Jeeps disappearing in the forest and runs up the stairs to the monitoring room two steps at a time. There he finds Liam shouting in Simon Cowell's face.

"It's suicide!" he's yelling.

"It's a retrieving op," the InGen's head of operations replies, his mild tone such a contrast to Liam's.

It's weird seeing Liam this enraged, like being around a Niall who's not happy and smiling all the time, and Zayn feels like everything is spiraling out of control faster than he can breathe.

"They're all gonna die," Liam spits out, so angry Zayn is positive he's going to hit Cowell. "And it's gonna be on you."

Zayn reaches them and when he's close enough, Liam reaches out and squeezes his arm, like he wants to make sure he's actually here, whole and alive.He catches Liam's hand and squeezes back before concentrating on the monitors showing the live feeds that the troopers' cameras are sending in.

"We're getting closer," says the one who's monitoring the GPS on a tablet.

"Stay vigilant," Cowell tells them through the speaker. "You've been debriefed. The Indominus can camouflage itself."

The camera feeds are still showing only forest when the Jeeps stop.

"400 meters to the beacon," the trooper informs them, eyes on the GPS signal.

"Engage on foot," Cowell orders.

They get out of the cars, dart guns ready, and start walking between the trees, splitting up in three different formations to cover more ground.

"We should be seeing her by now, if she's not deceiving us," Niall says, hovering over Josh's station, looking manic and scared, his lab coat impossibly wrinkled.

"200 meters," the trooper announces.

"Where are you?" Cowell mutters under his breath. "Let me see you."

"50 meters, still no visual."

"10 meters, we're on her," the team leader says but there're still only trees in front of them.

"Wait," one trooper calls out. "There's something here!"

He crutches down and something beeping red and streaked with blood enters the camera's field of vision. It looks like a chunk of meat.

"It's her tracking implant," Niall looks so stricken Zayn is afraid he might faint. "She... dug it out."

There's no time to process that new information because a roar comes from the trees to the left, followed by screams and the sound of shots being fired. One by one, the lines monitoring the vital of the troopers start to go flat.

"We lost team Bravo!" they hear someone shout. "Fold back! I repeat, fold back!"

They see a couple of troopers coming out of the trees, yelling at the others to run away. Then there are more screams, and another roar. More lines go flat and then the Indominus emerges, white scales splattered with blood and the last few lines frantically spiking go dead too.

Everyone is shocked silent, Niall is crying and Liam is clutching Zayn's hand so tight that there are probably gonna be bruises left behind.

Nobody noticed when Masrani arrived, but he must have been there in time to see the massacre because, when he speaks, his voice shakes.

"I authorize you to put her down," he says, face ghostly pale and horrified.

Cowell turns a disappointed glance at the man before grabbing something from his belt.

"Check all the cameras available. Keep monitoring her movements," he orders into the radio he's now holding. "We can't lose visual now that we can't relate on the GPS any longer," he says before walking out of the room.

Liam is still squeezing Zayn's hand so hard his knuckles are turning white. He looks at him once, fear and determination mixing on his features, before letting go and following Cowell.

Zayn turns to Masrani then, his boss looking lost and scared.

"I'm getting everyone off Isla Nublar," he states. "Only the essential personnel will remain to ensure that thing gets put down."

Masrani nods at him but Zayn has already turned his back on him, grabbing his phone to call control.

"Evacuate the island," he orders Louis as soon as he picks up. "I want everyone that's not necessary to the hybrid hunt to leave straightaway."

"What do we tell the guests?" Harry asks, the sound of his keyboard clicking traveling the line alongside his voice.

"I don't care," Zayn answers. "Just get everyone out," he tells them before hanging up.

"You can go too, sir", he says to Masrani when he looks at the man again.

The man looks at him in confusion. "What?"

"I said, you can go," Zayn repeats, jaw clenching tight. "You've done enough."

Masrani recoils, guilt etched in the lines of his face, before nodding at Zayn.

"You're in charge now, Mr Malik," he says before walking away.

"You too, Josh," Zayn addresses the technician, still in the room. "Get to the mainland as quickly as you can."

The boy stands up and looks at Zayn, shaking his head.

"I'm staying," he says, determination clear in his stance. "I spent months looking at the Indominus everyday," he tells him. "I can help." He squares his shoulders, daring Zayn to disagree.

"Then follow me," Zayn sighs heading to his car, Niall and Josh right behind him. "You've just got promoted."

—

They get back to the control room just in time to see the last employee running off. Louis is co-ordinating the ferries departures and yelling at Harry, who already set almost all of the screens to show live feeds of the entire park and is hacking what looks like the InGen central database to get what they're streaming on the private channel too.

"Get that ferry out of the harbor, Leigh-Anne," Louis is snapping at his headset. "The next one is docking in five minutes, hurry up!"

He pushes a button to mute his microphone and, without taking his eyes off the computer in front of him, he starts yelling at Harry again.

"Get out of here, Harold! Set up the camera network and get on the next fucking ferry!"

Harry ignores the shouting and keeps typing.

"Not until you come with me, Lou," he replies. "You stay, I stay."

"Stubborn twat," Louis growls. "Leigh, are you there? Don't overload the ship! Keep everyone calm, we don't have time to deal with mass hysteria right now."

Zayn makes his way to Harry's desk and asks for updates.

"We got half the guests on the ferries already," he informs him. "Another one and we'll start to ship employees out too."

"Good," Zayn says before grabbing Josh's sleeves and pulling him forward. "This is Josh, he's here to help," he introduce. "He'll bring you up to speed on the Indominus. Try to get him on a ferry after, if you can convince him."

"Where are you going?" his friend asks him, worry written all over his face.

"I'm gonna find Liam," he answers.

"With the raptors," Harry calls after him. "Cowell's with him."

"Shit," Zayn groans back.

—

Zayn drops Niall off at the labs so he can backup all his research before getting to the mainland and then drives to the Raptor enclosure. When he arrives two InGen guards are holding Liam's back and Cowell's nose is bleeding.

"What is happening here?" he asks, grabbing one of the guards' arm, trying to get him off of Liam. He ends up being pushed away, almost falling down. Andy catches him at the last minute.

Liam looks like he's gonna claw Cowell's face off any second.

"Can you prep them?" the man is asking Andy, ignoring Liam growling at him.

Andy looks at Liam and Cowell before looking at Zayn.

"They wanna use the raptors against the Indominus," he explains.

"So let me get this straight," Zayn looks Cowell dead in the eyes. "We already have a murderous monster on the loose and now you wanna set other four highly dangerous creatures free. Don't you think we're having enough containment issues at the moment?"

"They're assets," Cowell replies. "Invaluable ones. And they can be controlled."

"They can't," Liam snarls. "It's already difficult to keep them in line when we're training them in the paddock. We've never let them out. We don't know how they will react."

He's trying to reason with the security operative but Zayn can tell there's something else bugging him, something he's not willing to say out loud.

"I saw the footage," Cowell insist. "I saw how they respond to your commands."

Liam finally manages to get an arm free from the guards' grips and clutches the neck of his henley, stretching it until it reveals the scar on his arm.

"This," he spits, "Is not control."

Cowell is taken aback.

"We can't let them out," Liam repeats.

Zayn recognizes this argument, it's the same one they had more than once, but right now Liam looks desperate to prevent the raptors from being used. Zayn understands how dangerous the raptors can be, he does, but Liam isn't just worried about them not obeying commands, he's scared about something Zayn can't pinpoint. Then he remembers the first conversation they had after Liam saw the Indominus.

"I'm in charge of this park and I'm telling you the raptors are not an option here," he says suddenly.

"And I'm InGen head of security," Cowell tells him, leveling him with an annoyed glance. "And in a high risk situation, I'm the one in charge, Mr Malik."

"Then you should start acting like you care about this park's inhabitants, Mr Cowell," Zayn spits out.

They stare at each other for a long time, a couple of guards eyeing Zayn like they're gonna need to restrain him too. After a moment, Cowell looks away, directing his attention at Andy.

"Prep the raptors," he orders.

Andy looks conflicted but he nods in the end and starts to walk toward the stations where the raptors are restrained with some sort of mouth-guard. There are InGen men all around, fumbling with cameras and computers. When Andy approaches, they hand him four headpieces with a camera attached and he starts to strap them to the raptors' heads.

"Make sure the feeds are clear," Cowell tells one of the men by the computers. "We need to be able to see the Indominus the second they approach it."

One of the raptors hisses at Andy when he straps the camera around her head, struggling and trying to shake it off, and Liam sighs, defeated.

"Leave them alone," he murmurs but Zayn is pretty sure he's the only one who hears him.

Cowell is speaking with some InGen operatives, calculating the approximate coordinates of the Indominus. From what Zayn can understand, it's heading towards the resort and it's doing it quickly. He shoots a text to Harry and it takes seconds before his phone beeps.

_Almost done_ , the incoming message reads. _Managed to get Josh out too_.

So at least the evacuation is almost complete. Zayn is insanely worried about everyone still on Isla Nublar but at least they managed to get the guests out in time.

He's about to say something and try to stop Cowell and his mad plan when Liam finally manages to get rid of the guards holding him back and marches straight toward Cowell.

"We can't use the raptors," Liam repeats, holding his ground.

Cowell looks at him like he's a bug that keeps buzzing around his head and he wants nothing more than to crash it with a rolled newspaper.

"Stop whining about your precious pets and start thinking about their value as weapons, kid," he spits out.

"They're not weapons," Liam is talking so low right now he sounds like a snake hissing at his prey. "And we can't use them because, on top of everything, they didn't tell us what they used to make that thing. But if I'm right, there's Velociraptor DNA in the mix," he explains. "And if that's the case, my raptors will turn on us and every last person still on this island will end up dead."

Cowell looks at him for a moment, like he knows Liam is right but he won't change his mind anyway, before turning around and walking toward the restrained dinosaurs. The four raptors start sneering and struggling, trying to snap their jaws at him.

Liam moves without thinking, resting a hand on Blue's neck and the angry hissing turns into something like a purr.

"Look at how they respond to you," Cowell tells him. "They'll listen to you."

"They respect me," Liam answers, without looking away from the raptors. "Because I respect them."

He looks back at Cowell and the second he's not making eye contact with them, Delta starts to hiss and kick right back.

"Respect does not equal compliance, as you can see," Liam says.

Cowell looks at him again.Liam is proving his point but Cowell doesn't seem too inclined to abandon his idea, even if Liam is right about the raptors and how dangerous they'll be if they set them free.

"We need them to track the Indominus," Cowell says then. "We're out of options. We can't locate it when it's hiding in the woodland. The vegetation is too thick. They can hunt it down."

Liam stills at that, like he's considering his possibilities really quickly.

"What happens if I say no?" Liam asks after a moment.

"We move on without you," Cowell replies and Zayn knows Liam is never letting that happen. They're his raptors, he won't leave them with Cowell.

"They can track it," Liam sighs. "But the second they find the Indominus we need to get them out. If that thing got Velociraptor DNA in its genetic sequence, they can't make contact."

"Can you get them back?" Cowell asks. "Once we find the Indominus?"

Liam looks at the raptors. They're all focusing on him.

"Maybe," he finally says. "If I'm with them, maybe I can do that."

"Okay," Cowell nods. "Let move then!" he shouts at the group gathered around.

It takes Zayn a moment to put things together but when he does he strides toward Liam and grabs his wrist.

"No," he says firmly, toeing the edge between angry and anxious. "You are not going out there."

"Kinda have to," Liam half smiles at him.

"You are not going to chase an Indominus Rex," Zayn orders. "And you're definitely not going to do that surrounded by raptors!"

Zayn is having none of this shit, nope. There is no way he's going to let Liam do something this stupid, not on his watch. Zayn hasn't spent the last two years pining after the idiot to let him go suicidal the second things start to go in the right direction for them.

Liam is not doing it, period. But Zayn is looking at him and there's this fond smile on Liam's lips that says he would do anything to make him happy, yet the glint in his eyes says he has already made up his mind and he's going to do whatever he can to save the park.

"I'm gonna be fine," Liam tells him, squeezing his hand. "I'm just gonna follow them with my bike and get the hell out of there when things turn ugly."

"If you die—“ Zayn tries to say but has to collect himself before he can actually speak. "If you die out there, I'm gonna kill you."

Liam smiles at him, his eyes crinkling at the sides, before leaning down for a kiss.

Zayn grabs at him, not willing to let him go, but after a moment Liam steps back, still smiling, before turning around and heading towards his motorcycle.

"Stay here," he says to Zayn, before people start to fuss around him with headsets and GPS trackers. "Stay safe."

—

They somehow managed to retrieve the chunk of meat the Indominus GPS was attached to and they use that to get the raptors a scent to follow. A scent drill is something they are used to, they play hide-and-seek for training all the time, but they've never done it outside their paddock.

Andy is checking the cameras while Liam is explaining the plan to the InGen operatives, a large map on the island spread on the table in front of him.

Zayn is just trying not to have a panic attack thinking about Liam getting eaten.

There is old footage from various park's cameras playing on some of the screens in the makeshift base InGen put together outside the paddock. Zayn concentrates on them so he doesn't have to listen to Liam and his plan to not get himself killed.

Zayn can see the Indominus running through the Gyrosphere Valley, getting closer to the resort every second. The grass is scattered with dead Apatosaurus. They are lying still, bloody claw marks on their bodies. His breath catches in his throat, eyes glassy and heart aching.

"We're gonna set them free and they'll hopefully start tracking the Indominus right away," Liam says, looking at the monitors where the raptors' feeds are being streamed. Blue keeps looking at Liam and his back is the focus of her camera. Liam had a soft smile on his face since the minute he noticed.

"I'm gonna follow them as closely as I can. I'll need to be there to get them out when they locate the Indominus," he explains. "Wait until we're out of the line of fire, please. And then the lot of you will shoot the Indominus down, everything clear?"

There's a chorus of confirmations and Liam nods at the troopers, marking a couple of spots on the map with a pencil.

"I would really appreciate," Liam says to the group in front of him, looking at the raptors again. "If nobody shot my raptors or, if you must, use your fucking tranq guns."With that he goes over to Andy, checking all the equipment himself, before nodding at Cowell. They're ready.

—

There are a lot of lethal weapons on the island. Zayn didn't know that.

"Asset containment is authorized to use live ammunition in emergency situations," one of the InGen men explains when he notices Zayn's raised eyebrow. "I think this one qualifies," Zayn agrees.

Liam is helping Andy, who's getting the raptors in front of one of the gate to set them free, running around the bridges to get their attention.

When the raptors are in position, Liam gets on his bike, the InGen operatives get in their Jeeps and Cowell gives a few last orders before getting in one himself.

Engines roar and a second later Blue, Charlie, Delta and Echo are sprinting out of the enclosure, running in the trees, Liam disappearing behind them.

Zayn takes a breath and starts to look at the monitors in front of him.

The group has been running in the woods for about five minutes and nothing happened yet. The screens are showing only trees, and then more trees, and there is no trace of the Indominus anywhere. Cowell keeps barking out orders and Liam is still tailing the Velociraptors.

Zayn keeps checking at the tablet he stole a few minutes ago, the one that's transmitting Liam's camera feed, GPS and vitals.

The raptors are in front of him, running through the forest like lighting bolts. His GPS signal keeps going deeper inside the woodland but his heart is steady, beating calmly in his chest. He's fine, still alive.

Zayn's heart, on the other hand, is beating so fast he's sure he's going to have an heart attack any second.

He turns around to ask Andy if there's any change in the raptors' vitals when he hears Liam swearing.

"Shit," he half-yells and Zayn turns to the screen just in time to see Liam's bike on the ground.

The raptors have stopped in the middle of a small clearing, heads held up like they’re searching for something.

Liam's heartbeat spikes and the cameras on the InGen Jeeps show him getting on his feet as quickly as he can, scrambling to get the bike back up as fast as possible on the muddy ground of the forest, and the next second the base is shaken by a terrifying roar echoing through the comm's speakers.

"She's here!," Liam starts shouting. "She's here!"

He pats down his vest pockets but the clicker he uses to get the raptors' attention must have fallen out when he fell so he puts two fingers in his mouth and whistles as loud as he can.

"Blue!" he calls out and the raptor turns, looking at him with her head slightly tilted to one side, like she's trying to figure something out.

Liam takes a step toward her.

"Blue," he says again. "Let's go back," he orders.

The raptors turns toward her siblings and makes some squealing sounds, getting their attention.

Liam's shoulders relax a tiny bit. Then another roar echoes through the forest and two red eyes appear between the trees. Liam goes perfectly still.

Even Zayn can pinpoint exactly the moment the raptors turn on him.

One second Blue seems to be telling the others to go back, to follow Liam, the next the four of them are hissing at their trainer like they've never seen him before.

Liam takes a step back and Charlie snaps. She launches at him, jaws open and ready to bite a piece of Liam off, but something hits her just in time to stop the animal.

The raptor whimpers, scrambling on the ground for a moment, and Liam turns, the camera on his headset showing one of the InGen troopers holding a tranq gun and pointing it at the dinosaurs.

Zayn has half a second to breath out in relief before the Indominus steps out of the trees, raptors flanking its sides.

He grabs one of the microphones connected to the comm system and starts shouting.

"Get out of there!" he screams. "GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"

Liam doesn't answer. He doesn't even move.

Zayn sees Cowell getting out of a Jeep and then everyone start shooting at the Indominus.

It's only when the dinosaurs are distracted by gunfire that Liam finally gets back on his bike and moves back, behind the Jeeps.

"We need to shoot her down now!" he yells at Cowell.

"Do you have a clear shot?" Cowell shouts at his troopers.

"The tree are blocking our visual!" someone shouts back.

The Indominus takes a step forward and a trooper gets smashed against a tree, one giant claw piercing right through his chest. Another one gets his head eaten clean off while trying to fold back. On the monitors in the makeshift base, vitals start to go flat.

"You have to shoot it down now!" Zayn yells. "SHOOT NOW!"

"ENGAGE!" Cowell barks too and someone finally shoot a small rocket at the Indominus. The whole clearing gets engulfed in smoke and the raptors scatter.

"Keep an eye on the trees!" Liam shouts over the noise of the Indominus crashing on the ground. "Velociraptors like to push their prey into a kill zone, we're moving dinner!"

Zayn sees a team armed to the teeth slowly advancing on the Indominus, still on the ground.

"Is it dead?" Zayn asks through the comm speaker, "Did it work?"

There is no time to get an answer because someone screams and Liam turns around just in time to see Cowell shoot at Delta.

The raptor whimpers before hissing at the man.

"Delta!" Liam yells. "Stand down!"

The raptor doesn't even turn to look at him and the next second Echo darts out of the woods and closes her jaws around Cowell's arm, ripping it off.

There's a camera on the Jeep the man is standing next to and Zayn can see perfectly the horror on Liam's face, frozen in place, while his raptors feast on Simon Cowell's body.

Liam raises his gun, ready to shoot, when Delta bites around Cowell's neck, cutting his carotid artery with sharp teeth and there is nothing Liam can do then, apart from looking at his raptors tear him apart.

"Liam," he calls through the comm. "Liam, get out of there. Please."

Liam doesn't have time to answer because the Indominus roars again and starts to get back up.

"Fold back!" one trooper shouts. "It's still alive, fold back!"

The raptors straighten suddenly, leaving the bleeding remains of Cowell on the ground before running back in the woods, everyone scrambling to the Jeeps.

Zayn sees Liam righting his bike, before kicking the engine to life and driving toward the raptors enclosure.

—

When Liam gets back to the paddock, only an handful of troopers are following him and they still have visual on the Indominus just because the raptors still have their headsets on and are following it.

The second Liam gets off the bike, Zayn is by his side, hugging him so suddenly they almost fall on the ground.

"You scared me shitless," Zayn says, burying his face in the crook of Liam's neck. Then he pushes him at arm's length, checking him over.

There's a rip in his shirt, his clothes are muddy and dirty and he has a small cut across his cheek, probably from when he fell off the motorcycle.

Zayn looks at him, his hands still on Liam's shoulders, and takes stock of everything.

"Are you okay?" he asks, a concerned frown on his face.

Liam's voice almost cracks when he speaks.

"They killed him," Liam looks lost, like he doesn't know what to do to process what he saw. "They killed Cowell right in front of me."

Zayn hugs him tighter.

"They looked right through me," he whispers in Zayn's ear. "They looked at me and didn't know who I was."

"It's okay," Zayn shushes him, hands stroking the back of his neck. "Everything is gonna be fine."

He's not sure for whose benefit he's saying that.

—

"I have to go back to control," Zayn says after a bit. "Harry and Louis are still there."

"I'm coming with you," Liam replies, grabbing spare bullets for his gun and heading toward the bike. Zayn gets in his car a moment later, turning on the engine and driving toward the shopping area, in the same direction the Indominus is headed.

When they arrive, Main Street is deserted. There are food wrappers and disposable cups on the ground and the place is unnaturally quiet.

Zayn parks right outside the entrance of the Innovation Center and makes his way to the elevator, Liam right behind him.

When the doors open, the control room is chaos.

Half the monitors aren't working, most of the ones still functioning are beeping a furious red, signaling perimeter breaches everywhere, and the big map on the main screen looks like a battlefield. There are four little dots moving towards the resort, the camera feeds on the four small screen next to the big one showing the raptors and the Indominus running out of the woods.

Harry and Louis don't even notice them, too busy typing and shouting at each other.

"Harry! Louis!" Zayn yells over the sounds of the alarms ringing in the room.

"Zayn!" Harry shouts. "The thing is headed right on Main Street."

"What are you still doing here then?" Zayn asks them. "Get somewhere safe, you idiots."

Harry smirks at him, turning back to look at his computer.

"We're overcharging power sources around the island," Louis answers.

"To spike thermal signatures all around. It messes the Holyshitosaurs's perception, it slows it down," Harry explains, still typing.

' _The what_?' Zayn thinks but is brain is already spinning, a very stupid idea forming in his mind.

"Can you direct the Indominus somewhere with your thermal voodoo?" he asks.

"Yeah, if where you want it is near a powerful enough energy source," Harry answers. "We can channel the majority of the power in a single place."

"Are there enough power cells around Paddock 9 to distract the Indominus? To lure it there?" Zayn asks.

Harry types something and a lot of blue dots appear on the map.

"Yeah," Louis says, looking at the map. "It should work."

"But Paddock 9?" Harry asks. "Why would you get that thing near the—“

"Just do it," Zayn orders. "And get out of here, goddammit!"

"Fine!" the two technicians exclaims at the same time, lighting up the area around Paddock 9 with a few strings of code.

He turns to Liam next.

"Go to the supply closet at the end of the corridor," he tells him. "There should be flares in there, grab them." Liam nods,

"You coming?" he asks Zayn, one hand already on the door.

"Yeah," Zayn smiles at him. "Be there in a second."

While Liam hurries down the corridor, Zayn turns back toward his friends.

"Keep monitoring the Indominus movement," he tells them. "The second you have a secure escape, you get out, understood?"

"Yessir!" they replies, grinning like lunatics.

Zayn is about to run after Liam when Louis suddenly stands up and looks at Harry, three feet away from him.

There are alarms blasting all around the control room and half the screens are dead, feeds only showing statics, when Louis takes a step toward the fellow technician.

"Harry," he calls out to get his attention.

"What, Lou?" Harry asks, shifting his focus on Louis.

Zayn is staring at them and he can see all the emotion flashing in Louis' eyes just before he closes them, taking a deep breath. He's probably thinking this may be his last chance and when he opens his eyes again to look at Harry and just—

"I love you," he tells the curly haired lad sitting in front of him.

Harry is stunned into silence.

"What?" he asks, shock-still and eyes wide.

"I love you," Louis repeats running a hand through his messy hair. "I've been in love with you for so long I can't even remember a time I wasn't."

There are a lot of emotions peaking through Harry's expression while he stares at Louis. Zayn can see confusion leaving its place to fear, until relief takes over just before a spark of hope flashes into green eyes.

"I've been in love with you since the moment we met," Harry finally responds, standing up and moving toward Louis. "How could you not know that?"

That's the moment Zayn decides to intervene, when he sees the look in Harry's eyes, like he's gonna launch himself at Louis any second and never let go again.

"Lads," he tries. "I don't think this is the right time to have this conversation."

The murderous gaze Louis throws his way is answer enough.

"Louis," Harry whispers and Louis's eyes snap back in his direction again.

Harry moves closer and he reach out with one hand to loosely grasp the other man's wrist.

"Did you really not know?" he asks, looking at the ground between their feet. "All this time, did you really never realize?"

“I—“ Louis starts to say. "I was— I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship," he confesses in the end.

A little smile tugs at Harry's lips.

"Yeah, me neither," he whispers. "You know now, though."

They look at each other for a moment, the air in the room suddenly still, just like the calm before a storm, and then Harry moves. He grabs the collar of Louis' shirt and kisses him.

Louis fists a hand in the front of Harry's hideous shirt and kisses back.

Harry moans, deep in his throat, and pushes Louis against his desk, all the dinosaurs figurines shattering around. No one seems to care.

"I love you," Louis says again when their lips separate half an inch so they can breath. "I've wasted so much time worrying, I'm so sorry."

Harry replies biting Louis' lips and the next second they're kissing again, desperate and fierce and hungry.

"I've been waiting for you to make a move since that stupid office party," Harry tells him before shutting up and deepening the kiss.

Zayn doesn't try to get their attention again, he just grab a tablet and a radio before making himself scarce.

He turns around one last time, to look at the map of the park, lighted up like a Christmas tree and chances a glance in the technicians' direction. He turns around as quickly as he can when he notices Louis basically pushed down on Harry's desk and his best friend's hands on Louis' hips.

"Wait," he hears Harry ask, hands frozen on the hem of Louis' shirt. "Is this happening just because we're facing impending death?"

"That's one of the reasons, yes," Louis replies. "Being in a situation of mortal danger is a pretty big confidence boost for me, it seems. But mostly it's because I'm in love with you. You okay with that?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Harry answers before tugging Louis' shirt all the way off.

Zayn wishes he could slam the door on his way out, ears burning bright red with embarrassment.

He predicted they were gonna have sex in the control room, didn't he? His only consolation right now is that if they actually end up blowing up the park, it's not gonna be a major problem anymore.

—

He meets Liam in the lobby, a couple of flares in one hand, shotgun in the other.

Zayn grabs the flares and shoves them in the back pocket of his slacks, before checking the tablet. The raptors are entering Main Street now, they need to hurry.

"Harry and Louis?" Liam asks and Zayn blushes.

"They're kinda busy right now," he answers.

"I thought you told them to get somewhere safe?" Liam looks at him, confused. Zayn is about to explain himself further but apparently the way he glances at Liam is explicative enough.

"Oh," Liam exclaims.

"Yeah," Zayn replies. "Better get a move while we still have a bit of time."

Liam nods, serious again, and they hurry down the stairs.

"You have a plan?" Liam asks, jogging down the last steps.

"I do," Zayn answers.

"Are you gonna do something stupid?"

"Probably."

"What—“ Liam tries to ask but he gets interrupted by four loud screeches.

Suddenly they're surrounded, the raptors circling them. Blue stops in front of Zayn, sneering and snapping her jaw, but before she can attack, Liam steps in front of him, shielding him with his body.

"So this is how it ends, uh?" Liam asks Blue, looking the animal in the eyes. She shrieks at him, her head jerking to one side.

"Hey!" Liam calls out. "Look at me."

The raptor, surprisingly, obeys. She focuses on Liam, standing there with one arm held in front of him to keep the animal at bay, and snaps her jaws once. This time there's not even half the force she used before. Liam smirks.

"Now you see me, don't you?" he says. "It's okay. I'm not mad for before."

He reaches out carefully, getting bolder when Blue doesn't react violently, and a moment later he's petting her head, before opening the closure of raptor's headset and taking it off.

"Easy now," he whispers when the camera and the strap fall on the ground. There's a rattling sound and then Blue leans a bit to the side, nudging her head against Liam' hand.

"That's my girl," he smiles.

There's another hollow roar and then the Indominus barrels in from the end of the street. Blue turns again, sneering at Liam.

"It's me, baby girl," he reminds her. "It's me."

The raptor jerks her head once more, like she's nodding, before looking at the Indominus and growling at it.

The hybrid turns so quickly Zayn almost doesn't catch the movement until Blue is hitting the nearest wall, crumbling on the floor an instant later.

"Blue!" Liam screams, voice laced with concern, before bringing his right arm up, first clenched. Instantly the three raptors still standing concentrate on him. He whistles once before moving his hand down and the raptors move in synch, focus on the Indominus.

Echo jumps on the hybrid's back, biting and scratching, while Charlie and Delta run between its legs, clawing at them as they get behind the monster.

Liam grabs Zayn's hand, dragging him in the nearest shop to get them cover before starting to shoot at the Indominus, moving closer to the hybrid again.

Blue gets back up at one point and joins the fight, right before Delta is tossed in the air by the Indominus' tail. She lands on one of the restaurants burned and before she can even shriek, flames are surrounding her lithe frame and she's gone.

The fighting doesn't stop, though, and if it wasn't horrible and violent, full of screech and screams, Zayn would think the dinosaurs were dancing, their movements so fluid and precise, designed by millennia to overpower and kill. But, despite their efforts, the raptors are losing ground.

Zayn needs to act. He gets up from where he's crouched behind a table, checks the flares in his pocket and starts running toward Paddock 9. Liam notices him and Zayn can see the worried look in his eyes but he doesn't have time to stop and explain.

He runs in front of the paddock's gate, swiping at his tablet's screen until the unlocking sequence comes up and then he punches in the right code and throws the tablet on the ground, lighting a flare. The ground shakes and a roar rattles Zayn's bones.

This was a bad idea, he realizes, but he doesn't have the time to contemplate his foolishness because the second he moves, the park's resident Tyrannosaurus Rex starts chasing after him, jaws wide and ready to eat him. So Zayn runs.

He runs right back to Main Street, where Liam is huddled up in a different shop, shooting at the hybrid when he gets the chance, while his raptors are battling the Indominus, the T-Rex hot on his heels.

The second he spots the hybrid he throws the flare in its direction, making it land at its feet, before ducking behind a column.

The trick works and the T-Rex's attention lands on the Indominus and the two dinosaurs start to holler at each other before the T-Rex charges the Indominus, crashing right through the Spinosaurus skeleton decorating the street.

Charlie, Blue and Echo join Rexy, jumping around and biting at the Indominus, making it unstable.

Velociraptors are pack hunters, Zayn remembers his father telling him, they like to herd their prey in before the kill. That's exactly what they're doing, keeping the Indominus contained, never letting it get too far from the T-Rex's jaws.

It takes him a minute to notice how the raptors are also trying to move the fight toward the lagoon, away from the shop Liam's using as a hiding place.

Liam, who's looking at Zayn from the other side of the street, a mixture of worry and proudness in his eyes, smiling like a lunatic.

"That was your plan?" he shouts. "Freeing Rexy too? That's sick!"

Of course, Zayn thinks, of course Liam is excited about this mad shit-storm now that he's five meters away from immediate danger. Zayn always thought he was insane.

Liam stands up then, looking at Zayn, before sprinting in his direction. He almost gets tossed against a window when the T-Rex moves and her tail swipes the air right above Liam's head but he manages to get to Zayn after a couple of minutes and a lot of ducking and taking cover.

"You set Rexy loose!" he yells when he collapses in front of Zayn. "I thought we had enough containment issues at the moment."

"I'm kinda desperate to get out of here alive, if you didn't notice," Zayn replies, laughing hysterically.

"You're mental," Liam tells him, before grabbing the nape of his neck and smashing their lips together.

Zayn likes kissing Liam, he does, but he's also seen enough disaster movies - thanks to Niall - to know how this will end and he's not going to die because he was too busy making out with his hot boyf— his hot _Liam_ to pay attention to the big monster down the street. So, with a hint of regret, he pushes gently at Liam's shoulder.

"If we survive this," he says. "And my flat is still intact, we're not gonna leave my bedroom until I can't remember my name. But we need to make it out of here alive first."

Liam is clearly used to danger, having served in the army and being a Velociraptor trainer and all, because he really shouldn't get turned on right now but his pupils dilate and the hold he as on Zayn tighten a bit right before he lets go.

"Okay," he breathes out. "I like your plan. Let's survive the jurassic apocalypse, yeah."

They're pondering the pros and cons of getting back to the Innovation Center when Liam's radio shrieks.

"Where are you, Payno?!" Andy shouts down the line the second Liam picks the device up. "How are you even alive?!"

"Barely so!" Liam laughs. "I'm in Main Street."

"Of fucking course you are! Always chasing the action, you twit."

"Where are you? What's this noise?" Liam shouts back, pushing the radio against his ear, like he's having trouble hearing the conversation.

"I'm right above you," Andy answers. "Look up!"

They both do and a chopper flies over their heads, a M134 sticking out of one of the doors.

"Don't shoot the raptors!" Liam yells in the radio. "They're with us!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Andy answers before the communication cuts off.

Zayn holds his breath while the helicopter approaches the Indominus, firing a warning shot.

The raptors scatters immediately and both T-Rex and Indominus get distracted enough to look up, giving the last InGen operatives still alive a clear shot.

Bullets start to rain on the Indominus, making it stumble back, toward the lagoon, and they keep firing until the Indominus falls down, crashing the railing and diving in the water. It growls, trying to stay afloat, but then the Mosasaurus emerges from underneath, sinking its teeth in the Indominus' body and dragging it underwater. And then it's over, the Indominus' last roar dying with the hybrid itself.

Four darts get shot at the T-Rex then and with a whine, she crumbles on the ground, sound asleep.

"We lost visuals on the Indominus," someone calls out on the radio. "Can you confirm it has been terminated?"

Zayn feels numb and exhausted but Liam looks even more shocked than him so he grabs the radio from Liam's hand and brings it to his mouth.

"Pretty sure it's dead," he replies.

"Good," Masrani answers him.

"Sir?" Zayn asks, perplexed. "I thought you left."

"I did, Mr Malik," the businessman replies. "But a chopper was needed. And there's that old saying about a captain and his ship, I really couldn't leave."

"Well, I'm glad you came back."

Zayn would like to keep talking with the park's owner but he gets interrupted by Liam, who steals the radio a second later. Zayn can't even be mad, he looks so worried.

"Can you see them?" Liam asks Andy. "Can you—“

"Calm down, Li," Andy replies. "We're monitoring them. Where's Delta?"

"She's gone," Liam tells him, his hand searching for Zayn's and tightening around it.

"I'm getting them back," Andy says after a moment. "I'll bring them back to the paddock safe and sound," he promises.

"Thank you," Liam whispers before handing the radio back to Zayn.

"We'll talk soon, Zayn," Masrani tells him before the chopper flies away, chasing the raptors' trail.

"I really hope they're planning on moving Rexy before she wakes up," Liam tells Zayn when the sound of the helicopter has faded in the air.

Zayn looks at him for a moment and then bursts out laughing, tangling his fingers with the fabric of Liam's shirt and bringing him flush against his body, before closing the gap between their lips.

Liam half-chuckles against his mouth before deepening the kiss himself.

They stay there for a moment, the sun coming up over the horizon, a drugged T-Rex sleeping right around the corner, and Zayn realizes that, with Liam in his arms right now, everything else can wait.

—

There are so many debris scattered around Main Street they almost have to hike back to the Innovation Center. Zayn is not happy about it.

When they venture in the control room, he enters it with a hand covering his eyes, trying to peek from between his fingers.

"Harry?" Zayn calls out. "Louis?"

He gets two grunts in response.

"Please tell me you're dressed," he pleads. "I've already been traumatize enough for a lifetime, I really don't want to see your bums too."

"Dramatic arsehole," he hears Louis mutter. "Give us a second, Jesus!"

There's the tell-tale sound of clothes getting passed around and some giggling but then Harry's hair appears in Zayn's field of vision, looking like a bird nest.

"Hey," he greets. "What's the Holyshitosaurus' status?"

"As dead as it could be," Zayn answers.

"Great!" Harry grins before getting to his feet, followed but a rumpled Louis.

Their clothes are a mess, shirts crocked and buttoned all askew, and there's definitely a hickey just under Harry's jaw. Zayn really hopes the cameras in control were offline because, considering his luck, he will probably stumble on the footage sooner or later if they were on.

Aside from that, he can't deny he's happy for his friends. It has been a long time coming.

He smiles at Harry, who beams back at him like he's on Cloud Nine, and then at Louis, who smirks back and grabs Harry's hand.

Zayn is about to tell the two of them to go get some rest when Masrani enters the room.

"Sir," they all greet the man.

"The situation is under control, you can relax," he greets. "The Velociraptors have been apprehended and sedated," he tells Liam first. "They're being brought back to their enclosure as we speak."

"Thank you for telling me, sir," Liam says.

"An extra InGen unit is flying in to get the T-Rex back in her paddock too," he informs them, much to Zayn's relief.

"Now I'd like to speak to Mr Malik," he adds, pointedly looking at Harry, Louis and Liam.

Louis is the first to catch up.

"Of course," he nods, grabbing one of Harry's sleeve and dragging him toward the door. "We'll wait outside." Which means they will plaster themselves against the door to listen in, Zayn knows.

"Mr Payne, if you could follow Mr Styles and Mr Tomlinson," Masrani says.

Liam looks at Zayn and only when he nods does Liam move. He leans in for a quick peak on the lips and then heads outside too.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about the park," Masrani tells Zayn when they're alone. "During the major crisis we faced, you managed to do what I couldn't and put our guests safety before everything else. I was too preoccupied thinking about money and the economical damage the loss of the Indominus Rex would cause to realize the situation wasn't under control. If it wasn't for you, there would have been hundreds if not thousands of casualties and I thank you, Zayn, for your services to the park and its guests."

Zayn is getting angsty and he's quite sure he's gonna get fired any minute now, because he set a T-Rex loose on Main Street and let it destroy half of the shopping area. If he had waited and let himself - and Liam - get eaten he would have given InGen enough time to kill the hybrid anyway.

"I am disappointed," Masrani continues, pacing up and down the floor in front of the map, and Zayn squares his shoulders, waiting to be told to hand in his resignation before the end of the week. "In myself," Masrani adds.

"Sir?" Zayn looks at him, baffled and without a clue about what's going on. The man stops in the middle of the control room, looking at him with determination.

"When John Hammond died," he starts. "I swore to do whatever I could to make his Jurassic Park dream come true. And I did, for a while. I started the Jurassic World project and made the lifelong dream of a dead man come to life. But then I became greedy. And so I started pushing boundaries, turning a blind eye when my conscience was telling me we were disregarding the moral principles of this company. Then the novelty of a dinosaurs park began to dwindle and when the idea of Project Indominus began to circle, I approved it without hesitation.

"I made mistakes and there are a lot of things I regret but I will never regret my decision to hire you, Zayn, and I don't think I will regret my next decision either," Masrani takes a step in his direction, putting one hand on Zayn's shoulder. "I would like to appoint you Chief Executive Officer of the park, Mr Malik, for you to do whatever you think is best for it and its inhabitant."

Zayn is stunned into silence. The stress and lack of sleep must be catching up with him because he's having auditory hallucinations now.

"What?" he asks when his brain goes back online. "You what?"

"It's up to you, Zayn," Masrani replies. "You can say no and keep doing your job, or quit altogether. I won't fight your decision. But I hope you do say yes and give me another chance to make this right."

"Say yes, you wanker!" Louis shouts from behind the closed doors and Zayn, like a robot, does just that.

"Yes," he tells Masrani. The businessman smiles and shakes Zayn's hand.

"We'll need to finalize this properly, of course," Masrani says. "But you probably need to rest first, so all the paperwork can wait. I'll get your assistant flown back here to get the necessary documents drawn up in a few days. For now, congratulations, Zayn, you're the new CEO of Jurassic World."

With that he leaves the room and Harry almost falls down in his haste to get to Zayn.

"Oh my God!" he screams. "Did that really happen?"

Zayn looks at him, then at Liam and Louis, still by the doors, looking as shocked as he feels.

"I think it did, yes," he answers, right before the panic attack he's being expecting for days finally hits him.

"So I just became the CEO of the only dinosaurs park on the planet and we'll never going to be able to have said park up and running again because we'll never survive this media shit-storm," he sighs, when his breathing goes back to normal and Liam trusts his balance enough to let Zayn stand on his own.

"We don't actually have to worry about the media," Harry tells him.

Zayn looks skeptically at him.

"And how, exactly, do you plan on doing that?" he asks. "After a genetically modified killer monster could have murdered close to twenty thousand people we're just gonna say 'no comment'?"

"No, we can't do that, of course," Harry replays. "But no one knows about the Indominus. And with all the confidentiality agreement we all had to sign when we were hired, there's no way anybody who actually knows gonna tell, not if they wanna avoid the lawsuit of the century."

Zayn is puzzled. "How did you managed to evacuate the island, then?" Zayn asks. "What did you tell them?"

"We told the guests our geologist picked up a spike in the volcano activity and we thought it was best to get everyone to the mainland for safety reasons," Harry replies. "We offered refunds too."

"But there's no active volcano on the island," Zayn counters, brows furrowing in confusion.

"Yeah, we know that," Louis interjects. "But it seems like they did not."

Zayn looks around and they're all smirking at him, even Liam.

"You're all mental," he says. "I can't just—“

"Yes, you can," Liam stops him. "You saved the park, you can run it the right way if you set your mind on it."

"And I don't really wanna go job hunting," Harry adds.

"I like my current job just fine," Louis says. "My fit coworker too," he winks at Harry.

"Also, you know, dinosaurs," Harry points out. "It doesn't get better than that."

Zayn thinks they're all insane, yes, but he's probably the craziest one of the bunch because the next words out of his mouth are, "It's gonna be a nightmare, the repairs only are gonna take months."

Harry doesn't say anything, he just crushes Zayn in a hug, dragging Louis along.

Liam kisses his temple when they release him and smiles at him.

"I like my job too," he tells him, expression fond and sincere. "And I fancy my boss quite a bit, so I'd like to stick around too, if you don't mind."

Zayn laughs then, he laughs like he hasn't laugh in years.

"Fine!" he tells the lot of them. "We're gonna fix it. But now can we all just go home? I wanna sleep for at least a week."

There are agreeing mumbles all around and when he turns to look at him, Liam is already gazing his way.

"Let's go home," Liam says, one hand on Zayn's back to guide him out the door.

Zayn smiles, exhausted but safe, and grabs Liam's hand.

 


	2. bury my heart (next to yours)

Just before the big park reopening in the spring, Liam moves in with Zayn.

It happens virtually by accident, with Liam crashing at Zayn's for a couple of weeks, just the time to scout out a new flat after the old bungalows are dismantled during the repairs.

Liam packs all his belongings and stores them in Zayn's garage before emptying two bags of clothes in the wardrobe.

They have sex all over the place the first week, and Zayn looks smug for days every time they have breakfast, after he fucks Liam right on the kitchen island.

After a month, there are more comics on Zayn's shelfs than ever, at least half of them Liam's and he lost count of how many times he got back from the paddock to find Zayn lounging on the sofa wearing one of his shirt.

Liam learned pretty quickly that Zayn likes to steal his clothes. He doesn't mind. He gets a little turned on, actually, when he sees Zayn with one of his tee hanging loose from his shoulders.

They check out flats every time the both have free time but Zayn is impossible. He gets snippy with the girl that's showing them around and keeps insisting that she's just wasting their time showing them crap places.

"I need you to stop coming with me to see houses," Liam tells him one night, when they're laying in bed after he spent so much time eating Zayn out and teasing him he was sobbing when he finally came. "You keep tearing apart every house I like, finding defects everywhere."

"It's not my fault all the nice flats are already taken, Liam," Zayn grumbles next to him.

"You made the real estate agent cry," Liam reminds him.

"She was more interested in flirting with you than actually doing her job. Not my fault."

That's another thing Liam learned about Zayn: he can be almost irrationally jealous. Liam secretly enjoys Zayn's possessiveness, but he's not gonna let him know that, not now.

"That's not true," he says and, when Zayn glares at him, he blushes. "She wasn't," he insist before adding, "You have two possibilities here, babe: you start behaving or you stop coming with me."

Liam is positive he sees Zayn's cheeks redden too but he throws an arm over his eyes, covering his face, before Liam can confirm his suspicions.

"You could just stop with this house hunting shit and stay here," Zayn mumbles. "The flat is big enough for two and you basically live here already."

Liam just stares at him for a long moment, bemused. Is Zayn asking— is he seriously— 

"Do you want me to move in?" Liam asks, a smile already tugging at his lips. "Permanently?"

"You've been here for weeks and we still haven't killed each other in our sleep, so I think this living together thing is kinda working," Zayn answers. "Your shit is already all over, moving everything again seems a bit pointless, don't you think?"

"So you've been an absolute nightmare with the real estate girl just so I wouldn't leave?" he teases. "How romantic, babe."

"Shut it," Zayn grunts in response and Liam tickles his sides, making him squirm. 

"You could have just asked, you know," Liam smiles.

"Move in," Zayn grumbles, face still hidden beneath his arm. "Like, for real."

"Yes," Liam answers, before getting Zayn's arm out of the way so he can kiss him.

—

Afterwards, when Zayn pushes at Liam's shoulders, he gets the hint and lays down with his back against the mattress. Zayn straddles his hips then, smirking at him and grabbing the lube from the nightstand, slicking his own fingers up, before slipping one in.

Liam just sits back and watches him work himself open for a while, his hands loosely holding Zayn's hip.

He's simply beautiful, Zayn, with his lips silently parted, his honey skin glistening under the moonlight, his fingers buried between his lovely arse. Liam can't stand to look at him sometimes, when he's like this, because, even after months, he still in awe and he can feel his cock hardening just at the sight of Zayn. 

He grabs the lube then, coating his fingers too, and joins Zayn's, circling his stretched opening, teasing a bit before slipping in an inch.

Zayn hisses, a moan breaking free, but when Liam tries to move his finger back, worried it was too much, too soon, he stops him, slipping his own fingers out and taking hold of Liam's wrist. 

"Don't stop," he pleads. "Add another. I wanna feel it," he whispers.

Liam slips a second finger in easily. Zayn is already plenty loose but Liam's fingers are thicker, longer, and fill him up more. He lets go of Liam's wrist, now that he's positive he's not gonna stop, to rest both of his hands on Liam's chest.

"Keep going," he asks, but Liam ignores him, just for a bit. 

It's unhurried and steady, almost lazy, the way he stretches him open, slow and easy. He scissors his fingers, teasing and reaching deeper, until he finds Zayn's sweet spot, making him dig his fingers in his skin, back arching and eyes closing, trying to cherish every little wave of pleasure coursing through him. 

"Liam— please," Zayn begs and Liam adds another finger, the stretch a bit more substantial now, and Zayn keens before moving, shamelessly fucking himself on Liam's hand. 

Liam stills, letting Zayn do all the work until he lifts himself up enough to let the fingers slip free. 

"'m ready, yeah," Zayn mumbles, sounding already quite out of it. 

Liam locates a condom and rolls it on, before lining his cock with Zayn's hole.

As soon as the head catches his opening, Zayn sinks down, inch after inch, Liam's prick disappearing inside him. 

Nothing rushed tonight, though, not even the way Zayn shifts, up and down Liam's length, or how Liam pushes his hips up to meet him halfway, going deeper and hitting Zayn's prostate every chance he gets. They just move against each other effortlessly, soft smiles on their faces, chasing their orgasms without hurry, enjoying being in each other space.

When Zayn comes, lips inches from Liam's and a silent whimper in his throat, it take them both almost by surprise. Liam thrusts up sharply, startled, and then he's coming to, dick buried deep inside Zayn.

He looks at him, a contempt smile lighting up his face, running the pad of his fingers along Zayn's jawline.

—

When they come back from the shower they shared, playfully snapping towels at each others and giggling like children, they crash onto _their_ bed and Zayn moves to cuddle close, a pair of familiar arms sneaking around his middle to hold him against Liam's side. 

They probably should get dressed and change the sweaty bedsheets but for now, Liam cards his fingers through Zayn's hair, bringing him closer, lips brushing quietly, like they have all the time in the world to do this. And maybe they have. 


End file.
